More Than a Perimeter Threat
How McKenna Murphy’s discipline off the court is fueling her rise on it
Liv Sewell
Some people would think Division I basketball is enough. McKenna Murphy isn’t really one of those people.
The Colorado State redshirt freshman is a lot of things: a shooter converting nearly half her looks from beyond the arc, a steady presence off the bench and someone who doesn’t flinch at a full rotation of responsibility. This past summer, that rotation extended far beyond the gym. Murphy spent her mornings and afternoons shadowing doctors at UCHealth, then moved straight into summer workouts—switching jerseys, mindsets and environments without much pause.
The days were long, no doubt about it.
“Three days a week I would go from 7-to-4 and then I practiced after,” Murphy said. “Then, on the other days, I went from like 11-to-7:30. I mean, my days were long and the transition was a bit weird going from work in a hospital environment and then coming in to play basketball. But it was a lot of fun.”
What could have felt like competing demands soon settled into a rhythm. Instead of forcing a choice between medicine and basketball, Murphy learned how to run both at once. Risk and reward weren’t about sacrificing one pursuit for another, but about trusting that each role acted as a grindstone for the other.
Coach Ryun Williams has watched that understanding translate from her redshirt year into her first full season on the court. What he sees now is not just a shooter with range, but a player whose confidence is rooted in discipline and adaptability.
“Division I basketball is, it's hard,” Williams said. “And the demand on their time is just that, demanding. Now when you add an internship on top of that, you better love it. And she's really improved. She's gotten stronger. You can see she's an incredible shooter and she sees the game the right way. She’s got a confidence about her that comes from the work that she's put in.”
Loving something, though, doesn’t automatically make it easy to carry. It just makes the work worth repeating. For Murphy, that work shows up in the details—how she prepares, how she reads a situation and how she understands what’s needed next. That awareness hasn’t gone unnoticed by her teammates.
Her basketball IQ is a common refrain, often offered casually but meant seriously.
“I think you have a high IQ,” Marta Leimane chirped while walking by Murphy in the hallways of Moby Arena. Hannah Ronsiek echoed the sentiment.
“She’s got a high IQ all around,” Ronsiek said. “Basketball and school. She just knows how to make the right play, and I think that comes from smarts, obviously.”
Off the court, that intelligence showed up in Murphy’s recognition as a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete. On it, the translation is seamless. Making the right play doesn’t change much from one setting to another. It might mean delivering a pass to a teammate with space or offering reassurance to a patient before surgery.
Different arenas, same fundamentals.
“I just really enjoy like helping people,” Murphy said. “I think that was a big thing in the internship, being able to help people there in a way without having a bunch of prior experience and knowledge. I was in the pre-op and post-op of the surgery department, and I think that's just like always a scary time for people. So, just being there and being able to help people there I think it was a lot of fun and exactly what I want to do.”
Honestly I just want to be a good teammate, make the right play and be a good role model for the little kids. Being a good role model for them and being someone they watch on a weekday or weekend night and look up to I think is just really big.McKenna Murphy
That ability to enter new spaces with curiosity — and without hesitation — is part of what Murphy brings to CSU's roster. As one of the younger players, she’s learning alongside transfers like Lexus Bargesser and returners like Ronsiek. Absorbing the habits Williams hopes will carry the program forward.
And the transition is coming quickly.
“We are going to be graduating the mother lode,” Williams said. “Everybody's role will definitely increase, and the production responsibility needs to increase with that. And Murph, she’ll be ready for that, no doubt. She’s a great Ram and her best is ahead of her yet. The thing I love about Murph, too, is she's very observant and she pays attention to how things are done and what needs to get done. To have somebody like a Murphy leading the charge is necessary for our program to grow.”
The future may be shifting, but Murphy is already making her mark in the present. In her rookie season, she’s developed a reputation as a reliable threat from deep and someone who changes spacing the moment she steps onto the floor.
Averaging 44% from the field and 45% from 3, Murphy makes shots that matter. And when her hands get hot, the priority becomes simple.
“Her ability to shoot it at such a high clip is so important for us, and it stretches the floor,” Ronsiek said. “I think it gives other people opportunities to score. So I'm so happy that she's shooting the way she is, and she's shooting with confidence, and the work that she's put in has been paying off.”
That confidence doesn’t end with her jumper. Because yes her certainty while on the hardwood stretches defenses and opens lanes for her teammates. But in her internship, the same steadiness allows Murphy to step into unfamiliar, high-stakes spaces without hesitation.
She saw that mindset modeled most clearly during her time at UCHealth. In operating rooms and recovery halls, confidence wasn’t loud or rushed, but quiet, practiced and reassuring. The pressure was real, but so was the preparation—and Murphy recognized the same calm she tries to play with every time the ball finds her hands.
“Honestly those surgeons in there are the most laid-back people ever,” Murphy said. “I think it's like a level of confidence where they’re like we do this all the time. So they're just look at it as 'Alright let's go.' Because you don't want them super nervous either.”
There’s a reason experience reads as confidence. The idea that mastery comes after thousands of hours—the kind of time that turns instinct into second nature—is evident in the operating room. It was a place where surgeons moved without rush because the procedure had passed their hands hundreds of times.
That same belief underpins the Rams’ approach on the court. Consistency becomes fundamental and something built through accumulated reps, extra sessions and shared time together.
“I think we need to just build off all of our games and the work that we've done,” Ronsiek said. “We've done a lot of extra work outside of actual practice together. So I think building on that chemistry and just everything that we've gone through this semester will get that consistency.”
So at the end of the day, it goes back to the simple things which surface in big moments.
That simplicity is bolstered by the support Murphy feels from the Fort Collins community. A reminder the impact of small moments extends further than just the court.
“Honestly I just want to be a good teammate, make the right play and be a good role model for the little kids,” Murphy said. “We always have a bunch of little kids coming out and wanting autographs and stuff so being a good role model for them and being someone they watch on a weekday or weekend night and look up to I think is just really big.”
In that way, the circle closes. Murphy reflects the quiet confidence of surgeons in brightly lit operating rooms, while young fans study her from the baseline, waiting patiently after games for a chance to see someone in their element.
Confidence, she’s learned, isn’t flashy. It’s built quietly, through repetition, until one day it looks like ease. And for the people on the inside—the ones doing the work—that’s what it’s always been about.
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