Luke Murray is taking a big chunk of UConn with him to his new job at Boston College.

An assistant coach with the Huskies the past five years, Murray met the media on Tuesday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He will not be on campus full-time until after UConn competes in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, beginning Saturday in Indianapolis.

In his opening remarks on Tuesday, Murray said he wouldn’t be the new head coach of the Eagles without the time he spent at UConn and with head coach Dan Hurley.

“I kind of want to start by acknowledging where I'm coming from, and I know based on sort of what I've heard on social media and some people that have come up to me, the University of Connecticut is not the most beloved program around here,” Murray said to chuckles about the disdain, which apparently goes back to when Boston College left the Big East in 2005.

“I'm going to try to serve as a conduit of peace and try to bring everybody together. I've already started working on the UConn side of things, so I'm going to do my job here in Boston as well to try to mend some fences.”

Murray made it clear to Boston College fans that he won’t hold that animosity toward UConn.

“UConn really changed my life, changed my family's life,” he said. “When coach [Dan] Hurley offered me the opportunity to come back to Connecticut five years ago, I know for certain that I wouldn't be sitting here in front of all of you … if not for my time at UConn.”

In total, Murray spent nine seasons learning under Hurley. Murray was hnamed the head coach at Boston College on Thursday, taking over an Eagles program that once was a semi-regular in the NCAA Tournament but has not earned a berth since the 2008-09 season.

In the 17 years since, Boston College has mustered only three seasons at .500 or above.

Hurley first hired Murray as an assistant coach at Wagner (2010-11), and they worked together again at Rhode Island (2013-15). Murray also was an assistant coach at Towson and under Chris Mack at Xavier and Louisville.

“I'm so thankful and appreciative coach Hurley gave me my first chance to be an assistant basketball coach when I was 24 years old and probably totally undeserving of the opportunity at the time,” Murray said of the job at Wagner. “I started there, I got $8,000 for the year. I sort of slept on the floor of my office I shared with the two other people. We had one school credit card that we passed around to every person in the athletic department so if I wanted to go recruiting, I had to find the lacrosse coach who was off campus, but we made it work and it was a special time for me.

“I learned a ton from coach Hurley,” Murray said. “I turn 41 tomorrow, so I would say for the last 17 years he's been as impactful as any person in my life -- you know, outside of my immediate family here -- and so I'm so grateful for him and all that he's taught me. You know I hope I can do him proud here.”

Murray also gave thanks to the players, assistant coaches, support staff and student-managers he’s worked with at UConn.

“They play a huge role in our success every single day.”

So how can Luke Murray put Boston College back in the limelight? It starts with building a strong roster and enthusiasm for a program that will interest the students in coming back to the arena, he said.

Despite the down years for the Eagles, Murray said it all can be changed.

"I like the challenge. That was the thing that stood out the most. To me, it has the greatest potential," he said. "If you look at it, the history of the program, the history of the university, the conference that it competes in, it’s a little bit of an overused term, but it’s kind of a sleeping giant in men’s basketball."

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