Alabama men’s basketball has a full set of assistant coaches after losing all three following the 2022-23 season.

On Monday, the Crimson Tide announced it hired Preston Murphy as a special assistant, with on-court and on-campus recruiting duties a part of his new position. He’ll join Ryan Pannone and Austin Claunch on Nate Oats’ bench next fall.

Murphy was investigated by the NCAA and was given a two-year show-cause penalty amid the FBI’s larger probe into college basketball in 2021. Murphy, who joined the Bluejays in 2005 after stints at Boston College and Rhode Island, accepted $6,000 from an undercover agent to lead players toward Dawkins’ management company. Murphy also later lied, according to NCAA investigators.

Murphy was not one of the assistant coaches arrested by the FBI, but Creighton did receive two years probation and a set of punishments for the Level I and II violations. Murphy’s lawyer told ESPN in 2021 that Murphy passed a polygraph test proving he did not know about the scheme of his friend Christian Dawkins.

“I did not keep any of the money, no one asked me to do anything, I never agreed to do anything and I never even tried to arrange any sort of meeting or do anything wrong whatsoever. The truth is that I thought I was doing a favor for someone I thought was a friend by saying something that was true — that I have known Christian since he was a child — and to be handed money that belonged to Christian that I handed to him after the meeting. As the decision says, there is no evidence that I kept the money and I did not take any action. If I had known what was really going on, I never would have gone to the meeting,” Murphy said.

Murphy played at Rhode Island from 1995-99, scoring 1,218 points as a guard. He went professional in Belgium in Holland before returning to Rhode Islands’ Woonsocket High as head coach in 2003. For the last 17 years, Murphy has been a director of operations and assistant on multiple NCAA Tournament teams.

“I’m pleased to be completing our basketball staff with the addition of Coach Murphy. He was a highly sought-after candidate, and we were fortunate he was most interested in joining our program,” Oats said in a statement provided by UA. “I have known Preston for a long time, and I am excited about the many ways he can add tremendous value to what we do. I am always impressed with his energy, his humility, and his basketball acumen. His insight, experience and ability to connect with student-athletes will be a significant advantage for us. Additionally, Preston is a great person who is highly-regarded throughout the college basketball community. We have every expectation his hire will contribute to the continued success and high benchmarks of Alabama basketball.”

After Antonine Pettway, Bryan Hodgson and Charlie Henry left after a run to the Sweet 16 for head coaching positions throughout the country, Oats had to refill his staff in an offseason with heavy turnover for Alabama. Claunch will make $275,000 after being the head coach at Nicholls State. Pannone, a former NBA assistant, had his contract for $330,000 approved by the UA board last week.

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Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].