MSA Alumnus Johnny Furphy invited to Green Room for NBA draft
On Thursday 26 June 2024, Maribyrnong Sports Academy expects to have Alumnus Johnny Furphy (class of 2022) drafted as an NBA player, a first for the Academy. This week we spoke to two people that have been at the centre of Johnny’s growth as a basketballer - his parents Liza and Richard.
From the trips around the city to junior rep basketball, to the under 12 SSV team. And from his time at MSA to his final college destination in Kansas, Johnny’s mum and dad have watched him grow into a young man who is about to be handed over to the world. And to say they are excited about the future for him would be an understatement.
Johnny’s mum Liza says he was never really pushed as a child to focus on any one sport.
“Because Johnny was our third child, we just really went along with him and what he wanted, we drove him around to places and we never really forced anything onto him. We were always encouraged by his success but the drive for him to become a very capable player really came from him.”
That drive now has Johnny waiting for draft day and the possibility of being a first-round draft pick into the world’s number one basketball competition, the NBA. And his family can’t wait to get to the States and be a part of the big day.
“Johnny has been offered a table of seven in the Green Room which is backstage at the draft event” says his father, Richard.
“We will join him there with his brother and two of his past coaches. The exciting thing about him being invited into the Green Room is that it’s expected he will go in the first round as the clubs submit their draft selections to the NBA, and when aggregated the top 20 players are selected and given a seat in the Green Room, so a lot of the pre-draft nerves are eliminated. Now we just wait and see where he ends up”.
Johnny came to Maribyrnong Sports Academy as a basketball athlete and Year 7 student in 2017, a decision his parent initially had reservations about.
“To be honest when Johnny was in grade 5 he had decided that he wanted to go to Maribyrnong, because he had a friend who was going there and he could play Basketball all day long. We were a little sceptical because we didn’t know much about the school.” says Richard.
“We wanted Johnny to go to a high school where he would be encouraged to do well academically and when we spoke to MSA about that, we were told that students are told that you may or may not make it in your sport, so we need to make sure that you keep your grades up. That made a lot of sense to us”.
As parents, Liza and Richard have had to live with their youngest child living away from home - first when he went to Canberra at the AIS in 2022 then to College in Kansas in 2023. Liza says that is particularly tough for a mother.
“Johnny going to Canberra was tough for us because it was halfway through his VCE year and he was whipped away from us, stolen away, just pulled out of school halfway through his VCE year, and we weren’t expecting it, it just came out of the blue. We were expecting him to spend a year at home but then Kansas came and that also came out of the blue. He’s still my baby and I’ve hated not having him around. Every time we see him he has grown up that little bit more, and while you want that for your kids not being a part of it is hard.”
Richard says he is excited to see where sport and being selected into the NBA can take his son over the next few years.
“Sport to myself and the family has always been informative and about why you play and what you can get out of it, whether it be who you meet or the things you get out of it along the way. The education at college, it’s always been about what sport can provide for our kids. So having this NBA experience is incredible and getting to the top has never really been what it’s about. It more what it can do for you and what sort of platform it can give you to do things down the track.”
With a son about to be picked in the NBA, a daughter who is also at college as a star soccer player and another son who is a category B rookie at Geelong in the AFL, Liza and Richard are very much looking forward to the future for their kids and seeing how far sport takes them in life.
But for now, Wednesday 25 July 2024 (New York time), will hold a special place in history of the Furphy family.
The Score 010524
As always our Alumi and current students are performing at their absolute best at home and around the world. This is how they went this week.
Football
Congratulations to Polly Doran and her Crystal Palace women’s team on winning the FA WSL 2 championship. Crystal Palace had a nil-all draw with Sunderland on the weekend winning the Championship by one point from Charlton who had a 2-0 win against Southampton. The team now moves into the topflight Women’s Super League to play against teams such as Man City, Man United, Tottenham, Chelsea, and others.
Connor Metcalfe was subbed out of FC St Pauli’s midfield in the 85th minute in his sides 1-0 victory over Hansa. With three games to go in the Bundesliga 2 competition FC St Pauli are currently on top of the table, two points clear of second with games against the 4th placed Hamburger SV and two bottom teams to play.
MelindaJ Barbieri and her Newcastle Jets have been knocked out of the A-League Women’s finals series losing to Naomi Chinnama’s Melbourne City 6-0 on aggregate. Meanwhile Annabel Martin and her Central Coast Mariners team have also been knocked out of the finals by Sydney FC who won the two-leg semi-final 2-1 on aggregate. Sydney FC and Melbourne City play the final this weekend. We wish Naomi and her teammates all the best in the final.
Seb Pasquali and Matthew Grimaldi finished off the season playing a full game for Western United in their loss to Melbourne City 1-0. The win gives Melbourne City a spot in the A League final while Western United finished 2nd last on the table.
Badminton
Jacob Schuler, Shrey Dhand and Gronya Somerville are currently competing for Australia in the Total Energies BWF Thomas & Uber Cup Finals in China. We wish them all the best and will update their results next week.
AFL
Greater Western Sydney v Brisbane – The Giants won this game by 54 points in Canberra. Cam Rayner had 9 disposals, 1 mark and 2 tackles for Brisbane.
Port Adelaide v St Kilda – The Power won this game at Adelaide Oval by 10 points. Zak Butters had 27 disposals, 5 marks and 5 clearances for the Power.
North Melbourne v Adelaide – The Crows won this game by 57 points in Tassie. Paul Curtis had 8 disposals, 3 tackles and 3 clearances for North.
Geelong v Carlton – The Cats defeated the Blues by 13 points in a thrilling game at the MCG. Jordan Boyd had 18 disposals, 5 marks and kicked a goal for Carlton.
Fremantle v Western Bulldogs - The Dockers defeated the Bulldogs by 24 points in Perth. For the Dockers, Luke Ryan had 19 disposals, 3 marks and 5 tackles. For the Bulldogs, Rhylee West had 12 disposals, 2 marks and 3 tackles while Buku Khamis had 10 disposals, 2 marks and 2 tackles.
Gold Coast v West Coast – The Suns defeated the Eagles by 37 points on the Gold Coast. Gold Coast Captain Touk Miller had a big night with 27 disposals, 10 tackles and 6 clearances.
The Score 250424
Another big week for our current and past students in the sporting world. Here are their results:
Another big week for our current and past students in the sporting world. Here are their results:
JUDO
Akos Kelly was selected with the Cadet (under 18) Australian National Team to compete in European Cups in Teplice and Berlin (over 600 judoka participated in the first event and 700 in the second). It was Akos' first international experience in that age group and even though he didn’t win his fights, it is still a significant achievement and great learning opportunity.
While Akos was in Europe, the rest of the MSA Judo crew was fighting in the Melbourne International Open with great success:
Elizabeth Drew Finn won a gold medal in the Senior Girls <57kg category.
Gabriel Talledo won gold in the Cadet Men <50kg category.
Yonatan Anshtein won a silver medal in the Junior Men and took out 5th place in the Senior Men <60kg categories - his first competition in almost a year since coming back from injury.
Mia Sazdov won gold in the Junior Women and silver in Senior Women <78kg categories – her first competition after ACL reconstruction.
MSA Alumni Danny Vojnikovich won the gold medal in the Senior Men <90 kg competition while Ruby Gojevic won the bronze medal in Junior Women and Silver in Senior women <63kg category.
All up, MSA athletes took home one bronze, three silver and a whopping four gold medals!
BASKETBALL
Congratulations to our U17 boys for winning the schools 3XCup State final.
AFL
St Kilda v Bulldogs – The Bulldogs won this game by 60 points at Marvel Stadium. For the Bulldogs, Buku Khamis had 11 disposals and 9 marks while teammate Rhylee West had 15 disposals, 8 marks and 2 tackles.
Collingwood v Port Adelaide – The Pies has a 42-point victory over the Power at the MCG. For Port Adelaide Zak Butters impressed with 31 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles and 3 clearances for 574 metres gained.
Carlton v GWS Giants – The Blues won by 19 points at Marvel Stadium with Jordan Boyd having 12 disposals in defence for Carlton.
Brisbane v Geelong – The Lions lost to the Cats at the Gabba by 26 points. For the Lions Cam Rayner had 14 disposals, 1 mark and 4 tackles.
West Coast v Fremantle – The Eagles defeated Fremantle by 37 points at Optus Stadium. Luke Ryan had 16 disposals and 6 marks for the Dockers.
Sydney Swans v Gold Coast – Sydney defeated the Suns by 53 points at the SCG. Touk Miller had 23 disposals, 3 marks, 7 tackles and 4 clearances for the Suns.
North Melbourne v Hawthorn – The Hawks defeated the Kangaroos by 45 points at Marvel Stadium. Paul Curtis had 15 disposals, 6 marks and 2 tackles for the North while Massimo D’Ambrosio had 9 disposals and 3 marks for the Hawks.
Vic Metro v Young Guns
Congratulations to the following past and present student-athletes who were selected to play in the Vic Metro v Young Guns game at Avalon Airport oval in Werribee last weekend:
Mass Raso
Jayden Nguyen
West Barker
Lucca Grego
Xavier Kardhaci
Lucas Impey (alumni)
Tom Sims (alumni)
FOOTBALL
Western United’s Matthew Grimaldi scored the first goal of the match at the 4-minute mark of the game between Perth Glory and United played in Perth. United won the game 4-3 with Seb Pasquali coming into the game at the 57th minute.
In the first leg of the A-League Women’s semi-finals, MelindaJ Barbieri was subbed out for the Newcastle Jets in the 57th minute in their loss to Melbourne City 3-0. Meanwhile Annabel Martin started for Central Coast Mariners in their first leg loss to Sydney FC 1-0.
Connor Metcalfe played a full game for FC St Pauli in their 2-1 Bundesliga 2 win over Hannover 96. FC St Pauli are currently second on the table, one point behind Holstein Kiel.