The comedic timing confirmed he’s Bill Murray’s son. Time will tell if he’s the right leading man to resuscitate BC and revive college basketball interest in these parts. The hope at The Heights is that Murray is the next iconic college hoops coach to cut his teeth in the state that birthed basketball.

Remember, Rick Pitino coached at Boston University, his first full-time head coaching gig. Braintree’s Jim Calhoun built up Northeastern before becoming a legend at UConn. John Calipari put UMass on the national map and in the Final Four in his first stop.

These are some of the biggest names in college basketball coaching circles, and all of them stalked the sidelines in similar shoes to Murray — first-time coaches facing humble hoops beginnings at local schools that required a vitamin B-12-like boost. Retaining that caliber of coach is a high-class problem BC dreams of having soon.

Those Massachusetts-molded members of coaching royalty took local programs to the NCAA Tournament, a destination BC hasn’t ventured to since the 2008-09 season with Al Skinner. That was eons and five head coaches ago, counting interim coach Scott Spinelli.

“Our vision is to make the NCAA Tournament. I’ve said that from the very beginning. That’s the goal. That’s the expectation for our group internally,” said Murray. “We’re working towards it every single day in the way that we prepare, the way that we practice, the commitment level that we show to each other as a team.

“Again, that really hasn’t changed. … That’s what I said to the guys, that … [Tuesday] wasn’t indicative of our expectations and our standards. And, so, we have to rectify that in a hurry.”

Indeed. The Eagles face UMass, led by coach Frank Martin, who guided South Carolina to a Final Four, Friday at TD Garden in the opener of the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series Boston. It marks the first time since 2014 that BC and UMass hold court at the Garden.

In the hoops headliner, his old boss, Dan Hurley, and UConn take on defending national champion Michigan in a rematch of the 2026 Final Four finale.

That was the final game of a distinguished five-year tenure for Murray as Hurley’s aide-de-camp, during which the Huskies captured back-to-back national titles (2023 and 2024) and advanced to three Final Fours with Murray as the offensive ace up their sleeve. Hurley, the archetype of the ultracompetitive, occasionally bumptious, successful college basketball coach, employed Murray thrice as an assistant — first at Wagner in 2010, then Rhode Island (2013), and UConn.

The Eagles aim to rebrand under Murray, but the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll pegged BC to finish 17th out of 18 schools. One thing is certain, Murray won’t be running Skinner’s old-school flex offense with a new-look team that features 13 new players and 11 transfers.

Murray’s offense is the antithesis of that. It’s Newton’s third law of motion in sneakers. In Murray’s offense, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. It’s loaded with back cuts, curl cuts, flash cuts, flares, slips, screens, etc. Fittingly, BC’s first basket under Murray came on a sharp back cut by Slovenian freshman Zak Smrekar, aided by a screen from Luke Hunger.

UConn sophomore star Braylon Mullins hailed Murray’s offensive acumen.

“I just think the knowledge that he has of the game, and he puts you in different situations,” said Mullins. “I think a lot of it is just coming off the screens and the pin downs, you just got these different reads, and I think that’s just what he does well.

“And then, he sees something on the court, and there’ll be a little twist of the action. Then you’re running a whole completely different thing, and it’s so hard to scout. I think the knowledge that he has and [understanding] where to put you at, I think it’s unbelievable.”

Mullins added that the fourth-ranked Huskies are still primarily running Murray’s offense.

Don’t pigeon-hole Murray as just a strategic wizard. His ability to attract players to Chestnut Hill will be paramount in any turnaround. All great college coaches are salesmen.

At UConn, he served as the lead recruiter on NBA lottery pick Donovan Clingan and McDonald’s All-Americans Mullins and Liam McNeeley, a 2025 NBA first-round pick.

Murray is hoping to end the “Groundhog Day”-like feel to BC basketball — three winning seasons in the last 17 — to reference one of his famous father’s beloved roles.

Bill Murray was there to witness BC’s new beginning with his son.

About 59 minutes before tipoff, he bounded into Conte Forum with other family members and was escorted to his seat behind the BC bench. He later donned one of the white BC T-shirts that were handed out and wore his BC-colored cap backward.

Still, he was predictably recognizable.

BC is banking its basketball program under his precocious progeny won’t be.

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.