INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana State junior center Brandon Murphy is one of an all-time high 278 nominees for the Allstate National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Good Works Team. This esteemed award honors an outstanding group of student-athletes who represent the sport's finest in the areas of community service and leadership among their peers.

Murphy, a native of Montgomery, Ala., carries a 3.25 GPA in Communications and was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team as an honorable mention selection last season. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game one year ago. This season, Murphy posted a career-best three blocked shots in the season opener at Northern Illinois and had a key conventional 3-point play in the overtime victory at Ball State. In the home opener, Murphy scored a career-high 11 points in the decisive victory over Missouri-St. Louis as he made seven free throws in the win.

He also is a key member of the Sycamores' extensive community service outreach program. Murphy has participated in community service with the Terre Haute Children's Museum, 14th & Chestnut Community Center, Hamilton Center, United Way of the Wabash Valley and other various fundraising efforts in and around Terre Haute. The Sycamores also donate their time to help the causes of the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the American Red Cross as well as many local hospitals and elementary schools. 

The Allstate NABC Good Works Team® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport.  From leading an initiative to help end the water crisis in Flint, Mich., to co-founding a non-profit with the mission to improve literacy rates across the country, the players nominated embody the true spirit of teamwork and giving back.

"The positive impact that student-athletes are making on college campuses and communities around the world can sometimes go unnoticed," said Thomas Clarkson, president of the west territory for Allstate Insurance Company and a member of the 2017 NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams® selection panels. "Allstate is a proud supporter of NCAA® college basketball and takes immense pride in working with the NABC and WBCA to recognize players who continue to make giving back a priority and inspire future generations of athletes."

Athletic departments and sports information directors across the country nominated the 181 NABC and the 97 WBCA student-athletes for the prestigious honor. Two special voting panels, headlined by former Duke University basketball athlete, two-time NCAA® champion and seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill, and former Notre Dame basketball star, two-time Nancy Lieberman Award winner and current WNBA player Skylar Diggins, will select 10-member teams from both the NABC and WBCA, comprised of five student-athletes from the NCAA Division I level and five student-athletes from Divisions II, III and the NAIA. The final roster of 20 award recipients will be unveiled in February.

Members of the Allstate NABC Good Works Team® will be invited by Allstate, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, to the 2017 NABC Convention and 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four® in Phoenix, where they will participate in a community service project benefitting the city. Members of the Allstate WBCA Good Works Team® will be recognized during the 2017 WBCA Convention and at the 2017 NCAA Women's Final Four® in Dallas, and will also participate in a volunteer project in the local community. Allstate is an official corporate partner of the NABC, WBCA and NCAA.

"The growth of the Allstate NABC Good Works Team program in five years has been remarkable with a record-setting number again for 2017," said NABC Executive Director Jim Haney. "We are very grateful to Allstate for shining a bright light on these men and women in college basketball whose compassion and commitment continue to help so many."

In addition to Clarkson, Hill and Diggins, the 2017 Allstate NABC and WBCA Good Works Teams® selection panel members include: former college basketball student-athletes Clark Kellogg (Ohio State University / CBS Sports), Len Elmore (University of Maryland / CBS Sports / ESPN) and Alana Beard (Duke University); media members Seth Davis (Sports Illustrated / CBS), Dana O'Neil (ESPN), LaChina Robinson (ESPN / FOX) and Brenda VanLengen (ESPN / FOX Sports); former head coaches Bobby Cremins (Georgia Tech / College of Charleston), Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech University), Marsha Sharp (Texas Tech University) and Nell Fortner (Auburn University); and current coach Coquese Washington (Penn State University).

Since 2008, Allstate has partnered with the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) as a sponsor of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, which recognizes the off-the-field impact college football student-athletes have on their communities.

More information about the Allstate NABC Good Works Team® and theAllstate WBCA Good Works Team® is available at www.nabc.org and www.wbca.org.

Indiana State returns home on Wednesday night when they host Northern Illinois inside Hulman Center at 8:00 p.m. (ET).