DAVID Murrell is making a PBA comeback for the coach who gave him his biggest break in the league.
After a series of tryouts, Murrell officially became a Blackwater Bossing after agreeing to a one-year contract with the franchise on Tuesday.
The former slam dunk champion is being represented by TMG.
Murrell had no expectations after playing for the Bossing in the last 40th Kadayawan Invitational basketball tournament in Davao, which served as an evaluation for him.
But after showing what he could do in Blackwater’s strong runner-up finish to NLEX, the team decided to retain him for the coming Season 50 of the league.
Coach Jeff Cariaso referred to Murrell as a solid pick for the team in the free agent market.
"He's a team player who takes pride on his defense," said the veteran coach.
That the 6-foot-4 Fil-Am did well in the Kadayawan was understandable as he previously played under Cariaso.
Murrell was a second-round pick of NLEX in the Season 46 draft, but never got the playing opportunity from the team which eventually shipped him to Converge along with Tyrus Hill for a first-round pick in Season 48 (which the Road Warriors used to select Richie Rodgers).
It was with the FiberXers under Cariaso that Murrell managed to show his true worth, twice emerging Player of the Game honoree, including in one gamewhere he scored a career-high 21 points.
But Cariaso’s exit led to Murrell finding himself sitting at the far-end of the Converge bench until he was traded again this time for Magnolia.
The change in scenery neither helped him as the former University of the Philippines stalwart had a brief one conference stint with the Hotshots before being left out as an unrestricted free agent.
Barangay Ginebra tried to gamble on Murrell, but he ended up suffering the same fate he had at Magnolia.
Now reunited with Cariaso, Murrell hopes everything would finally change for the better.
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