The last decade of Murray State basketball has seen the program continue its run as a solid mid-major in the Ohio Valley. After a fairly successful run in the 2000s under future high major coaches Mick Cronin (2003-2006) and Billy Kennedy (2006-2011), the Steve Prohm era (2011-15) saw the Racers become an even more consistent force in the OVC. In 2012 the Racers ran off a program best 31-2 record capped off by a #6 seed in the NCAA tournament. The following year, recent MSU legend Isaiah Canaan became the first Racer drafted to the NBA since Euro-League scoring legend Marcus Brown was picked in the 2nd round of 1996 NBA Draft. Building on the success of Canaan’s early 2010s teams, in 2015 Murray ran off a 29-6 record complemented by a 16-0 OVC mark. Although the Racers missed out on the Big Dance due to a 87-88 loss to Belmont in the OVC title game, the selection of Sophomore guard Cameron Payne in the lottery of the 2015 NBA draft signaled greener pastures ahead.
After some relatively down years in 2016 and 2017 as the program transitioned from the Steve Prohm to Matt McMahon era, the Racers struck the college recruiting version of lightning in a bottle. On a routine scouting trip at a camp in South Carolina, McMahon assistant James Kane stumbled upon a random 3v3 game while on the search for a snack. For whatever reason, Kane stopped to watch these six guys duke it out in the halfcourt. It just so happened that one of the players was a bouncy local phenom named Ja Morant. After watching, Kane called up his Head Coach insisting that he recruit this sinewy athletic guard he watched play 3v3 for probably less than 15 minutes. Unless you have been living under a rock the last few years you know the rest of this underdog story: Morant picked Murray and transformed from a player whose only other Division 1 scholarship offers were from schools like Maryland Eastern Shore and South Carolina State, to a mid-major phenom selected #2 overall in the 2019 NBA draft. In the process, Morant led Murray to back to back OVC titles and NCAA tournament appearances, highlighted by an upset over 5 seeded Marquette in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
In the first season of the post-Ja era, the Racers continued their run of excellence as former Morant backcourt mate Tevin Brown emerged as the new do-it-all lead guard for the Racers, leading them to a 23-9 record (15-3 OVC) and a berth in the OVC title game against arch-rival Belmont. In one of the final sporting events before the 2020 season met its early demise at the hands of COVID-19 and Rudy Gobert, the Racers and Bruins played in a future ESPN Classic level showdown. In a game that featured incredible shot making and numerous lead changes, Belmont outlasted Murray in overtime, winning 76-75 on a last second layup (game highlights linked bellow). While it is unlikely that Murray would have received an at-large NCAA tournament bid, the high of the Ja Morant experience was translated to another year of mid-major magic.
This run of sustained OVC success (10 combined regular season and tournament championships since 2010) leaves Murray preparing for the arguably more talented 2020-21 Racers to take the floor in an attempt to retake the OVC and return to the NCAA tournament. Leading the way for the Racers is the aforementioned Tevin Brown, a 6-5 junior guard with legit NBA range (42% on 3s in 2020) who averaged 18-5-4 a year ago. While Brown provides a large chunk of scoring and playmaking for the Racers, the continued improvement of fellow preseason All-OVC selection KJ Williams could determine the ceiling of this Racers team. Williams, a 6-10 junior forward, provides the combination of defensive speed and offensive versatility the Racers are built on. His offensive game features an old school jump hook combined with smooth above the break 3pt shooting range.
Aside from Williams and Brown, the Racers return a trio of key sophomores in Chico Carter Jr., Daquan Smith, and Demond Robinson. Though Carter Jr. and Smith will likely be entrusted with a large share of ball handling duties Coach McMahon’s uptempo attack, Racer fans may be most excited to see the improvement of the 6-8, 255 lb shot blocking machine that is Demond Robinson. As a freshman, Robinson led the Racers with 44 blocked shots in 29 games (24 starts) and showed improved post scoring as the season wore on. In what became the OVC Champioship finale against Belmont, Robinson went total beast mode, scoring 14 pts grabbing 6 boards and blocking 6 shots in 22 minutes of work. If Robinson can improve his conditioning (played only about 15 mpg in 2020) and further hone his post game then he could emerge as a legit double-double threat for the Racers in 2021. As for Carter Jr. and Smith, each presents a different style for McMahon to deploy. Carter Jr. is a throwback downhill guard whose combination of speed and finishing ability help create the open 3s the Racer’s thrive on. Look for Carter Jr. to be a potential breakout star after missing 10 games his freshman year due to injury. DaQuan Smith is more of a “run the team” type guard in comparison to Carter Jr’s. attacking style. While Smith did start the final 25 games for the Racers in 2020 he will need to expand on his 3pt makes (45) and double digit scoring performances from last season (8) in order to offset the losses of departed role players Javieon Eaves and Anthony Smith Sr. The final important returner for the Racers is 6-6 senior forward Devin Gilmore. Though Gilmore does not provide much scoring, his ability to play next to either Williams or Robinson will be key to the Racer’s ability to tag team opponents with its pair of talented big men.
As for the new faces on the 2021 Racers, Coach McMahon brings in a solid class of recruits. The most exciting of the four may be 6-6 versatile forward Ja’Queze Kirby. As a four time All State Selection out of Georgia with 3 triple doubles and 17 double doubles in his high school career I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kirby become a 10-15 minutes a night energy guy early in the season as the depth behind Robinson and Williams is not exactly stellar. Aside from Kirby, Racer fans should also be excited for 6-6 guard Jackson Sivillis, a local west Kentucky recruit who finished his high school career as all-time leading scorer and rebounder at McCracken Co High School. The former Kentucky Mr. Basketball candidate could see early minutes in Coach McMahon’s rotation, especially if the Racers need additional shooting to spread the floor around Demond Robinson and KJ Williams. Aside from Kirby and Sivillis, the Racer’s add 6-2 guard Dionte Blanch out of Florida and 6-8 forward Nick McMullen out of North Carolina.
The OVC figures to continue its diarchy in 2021 as Belmont and Murray will be looking to make it four years in a row in the OVC title game. Don’t be surprised if Austin Peay attempts to crash the party behind its two headed scoring monster of Terry Taylor and Jordan Adams (39 ppg combined in 2020). Sitting behind the 3 conference favorites lies a plethora of teams looking to break up the Belmont/Murray domination; Eastern Kentucky and coach E.W. Hamilton bring back star scorer Jomaru Brown (18 ppg in 2020) along with most of their roster that finished 12-6 in conference a year ago, Jacksonville St. and Coach Ray Harper hit the reset button on shite 13-19 2020 mark and look to rebound with a brand new cast of JUCO and high-major transfers, and finally, Eastern Illinois returners a rotation of 8 seniors which in a season defined by strangeness due to COVID-19 could boost EIU’s conference outlook. The rest of the conference is murky, with As for scheduling; due to the lower resources in the OVC I would be surprised to see Murray play much of a non-conference schedule aside from a few games against regional non-OVC teams.
In closing, Murray looks to continue its 10 plus year run of mid-major relevance with a team that features all the hallmarks of past Racer success. If Matt McMahon can channel the explosive scoring of Tevin Brown with interior domination of Williams/Robinson then Murray should be good for at least 14 conference wins (assuming a normal 18 game OVC schedule). If internal improvement boosts the production of Chico Carter, Robinson, or Daquan Smith then the ceiling rises Murray could rocket up to 15 or 16 wins in conference. Regardless, the Racer’s hopes for an NCAA Tournament berth will likely be decided by their eventual showdown with Austin Peay, Belmont, or OVC contender TBD in the Conference Tourney.
I pray that each school continues to be vigilant in protecting players, staff, and fans from the dreaded virus.
It is going to an exciting, albeit challenging, year for all.