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Welcome to the U, Kamari Murphy!

'Canes pick up a talented, physical 6'8 forward with 2 years of eligibility remaining. UPDATED WITH QUOTES BELOW.

By Jerry Steinberg
Donald Miralle

It's been a long and at times frustrating offseason for Coach L and staff in their pursuit of a big.

Well today the hard work finally payed some dividends as UM picked up a commit from Oklahoma State transfer Kamari Murphy.

The Brooklyn, NY native averaged 6.1 ppg, while hauling in 6.3 boards, blocking  1.2 shots, and shooting 53% from the floor last year for the Cowboys.

"We were looking for a forward with great athletic ability," said Larrañaga. "Kamari, at 6-foot-9, can run and jump and is as good an athlete as you will find, but what is most impressive is his versatility both offensively and defensively. He can defend multiple positions and he can play both forward positions. We needed additional scoring and rebounding up front and he can provide that. He is a great addition to our program."

Here's a taste of him in action:

The good news is he is just what the doctor ordered for the depth challenged front court of the Hurricanes.

The bad news is he will have to sit out a year under NCAA rules for transfers, and will not be eligible until 2015-16. Murphy will still be a welcome at that point addition as UM has zero, (count em)  seniors on the current squad and he will add nicely to the core of Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan, and Deandre Burnett among others.

UPDATE: We had the chance to speak with Kamari to get his thoughts on this decision.

SOTU: "What ultimately led you to pick MIami as your next school?"

"Out of high school I really wanted to play at Miami but with the (NCAA) sanctions hanging over them my parents and I thought it best to go elsewhere.  I really built a nice relationship with Coach L, he had started recruiting me while he was at George Mason and I felt like he always looked out for my best interests in both basketball and in life so it was really a no brainer"

SOTU: Which players did you spend time with on your visit?

"I hung out with Mike Fernandez, Sheldon Mac (McClellan) and Davon Reed, they took me to some cool places."

SOTU: When do you expect to enroll at UM?

" I will be down for the start of the second summer session"

Thanks to Kamari for his time and Welcome to The U!