NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – The Niagara University Department of Athletics Hall of Fame Bobblehead Series, featuring Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers, Hubie Brown, Calvin Murphy, and Larry Costello, continues this Friday when Niagara welcomes its all-time leading scorer Calvin Murphy back to the Gallagher Center for the first time in five years.
 
Fans in attendance for Niagara's home game versus Quinnipiac at 7 p.m. will receive a Calvin Murphy bobblehead, the second installment of the Niagara's Hall of Fame Bobblehead series.  
 
Murphy's name has become synonymous with Niagara basketball. The 5-foot9 guard from Norwalk, Conn., came to Niagara after a renowned high school career that included three all-state selections and two all-America honors.
 
He averaged 49.8 points for the Niagara freshmen, playing before capacity crowds in the Student Center. As a sophomore, he broke the Niagara single-game scoring record in his first varsity game with 41 points vs. Long Island in the Student Center and went on to average 38.2 points per game, second in the nation and third-best in NCAA history to that point. The average still ranks eighth-best all-time.
 
The Niagara legend was selected to the Associated Press second team, United Press International (UPI), U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Converse Yearbook First-Team All-America Teams. As a junior, he set the national scoring mark against a Division I opponent with 68 points in a 118-110 win over Syracuse in the Student Center. The scoring effort still ranks third in NCAA history. He finished the year third in the nation in scoring at 32.4 points per game and had already set the Niagara career scoring mark.
 
Murphy earned first-team positions on 13 All-America teams, including Associated Press, UPI, Look Magazine and Basketball Weekly. His senior season, Murphy led Niagara to 20 wins and its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Niagara (22-7) upset Pennsylvania in the first round, 79-69, before bowing to Villanova and North Carolina State. Murphy averaged 29.4 points per game in his final season and finished with 2,548 points in his three-year career, the fifth-highest total in major college history at that point.
 
The Connecticut born guard's career scoring average of 33.2 points per game still ranks fourth in NCAA history behind Pete Maravich (LSU), Austin Carr (Notre Dame) and Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati).
 
In addition to being an outstanding collegiate basketball player, Murphy was also one of the finest baton twirlers in the country. During the World's Fair in New York, he was selected as second in the nation.
 
Murphy was a second-round draft choice of the Houston Rockets, where he played for 13 seasons, setting the Houston career records for points (17,949), games played (1,002), assists (4,402) and steals (1,165). More than 20 years later, he still holds the franchise assist record and ranks second in the other three categories. Murphy was inducteed into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993 and his number 23 has been retired by Niagara and Houston.
 
Stay connected with Niagara Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, purpleeagles.com, and the Niagara Purple Eagles app.