Commitment Report: BJ Murff (2020)

<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">The <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins Royals </span>have once again continued their streak of having a player earn a scholarship to a collegiate football team. Last Saturday, <strong>Brayone (BJ) Murff </strong>committed to Division II powerhouse Minnesota Duluth, and the Bulldogs are getting a good one. The 5'9, 160 lb. speedster has helped lead <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>to a 3-2 record so far in 2019, and has continued a pipeline from <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>to Duluth that the Bulldogs are sure to be excited. Currently, their starting senior DB, captain, and All-NSIC selection Bill Atkins is a <span style="color: #3366ff;">Royal </span>alum, and <strong>Murff </strong>joins a Bulldog roster that is comprised of 46 Minnesotans, including recent Golden Gopher bounce back Nathan Bursch. I was lucky enough to represent <em>Northstar Football News</em> in an exclusive interview regarding his commitment and <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>2019 season. </span> <em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">NFN: Walk us through your recruitment process.</span></em> <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Murff</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">: "The recruiting process was pretty stressful for me because some coaches would contact you saying that they are interested in you, but then they don't contact you for awhile and you can't really do anything but just wait. Coaches starting contacting me after my junior year. My head coach started introducing me to coaches as they came to my school and that felt pretty good getting to talk to a college coach for the first time. The important part of the recruiting process for me was to just keep my grades up and continue to ball out at camps and on the field, so eventually a coach would notice me as a determined young man who can potentially play college football." </span> <em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">NFN: What made you commit to Minnesota Duluth?</span></em> <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Murff: </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">"My reasons for picking UMD are because the coaches constantly texted me, sent me good luck cards, and just showed love. When I went to a game-day visit the fans were energetic even though it was raining and cold out. UMD has a great football program and it is a great place to get an education from as well."</span> <em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">NFN: How has <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>2019 season been going and what can we expect from the <span style="color: #3366ff;">Royals </span>the rest of the way?</span></em> <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Murff: </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">"Overall, this year we are turning the <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>football program around. We finished half our season with a record of 3-1 and hopefully we can finish this season out with a better record than we've had in the past. Personally, my senior season hasn't been what I expected but it's too early to judge. Hopefully I can do what I can to get the team a W every Friday from now on. Most people expect <span style="color: #3366ff;">Hopkins </span>to lose a lot but if you ask me you should expect us to win a lot more." </span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Keep your eyes and ears open for <strong>Murff</strong> on Friday's during the 2019 season, and on Saturday's going forward. </span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;">Mid-season Hudl: <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2BqJER">http://www.hudl.com/v/2BqJER</a></span>