Jordan Murphy's journey to get to the NBA will start where his college career ended.
The Gophers all-time rebounding leader signed to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves summer league team, a source confirmed Friday to the Star Tribune.
Murphy, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound San Antonio native, wasn't selected in Thursday's NBA Draft, but he worked out a second time with the Timberwolves this week. He also had been training at Athletes Village on Minnesota's campus since the end of the college basketball season.
An All-Big Ten first-team selection, Murphy averaged 14.4 points, a Big-Ten high 11.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists his senior year. Murphy's healthy again after being limited to just four minutes with a back injury in his final college game in the U's NCAA tournament second-round loss to Michigan State in Des Moines in March.
Murphy last played in front of Minnesota fans in the Reese's Senior All-Star game and in the Dos Equis 3X3U national championship during Final Four week in Minneapolis in April.
The Timberwolves, who drafted Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver and Washington's Jaylen Nowell on Thursday, will play in the NBA Summer League July 5-15 in Las Vegas.
On Thursday, Murphy's teammate Amir Coffey also didn't hear his name called on draft night, which extends the draft drought for the Gophers to 15 years. Coffey, a 6-foot-8 guard who left after his junior year, has some teams interested in him for a two-way NBA G League contract, according to his agent.
