Tweet
During the summer before his senior year at Houston's Klein Forest High, Murray was a 6-1, 175-pound wisp who garnered little interest from Division I schools. Shockers coach Gregg Marshall, however, saw room for growth -- literally.
"He was this scrawny little kid, but you could see he was this young colt who could develop," Marshall says. "He had big feet, long arms. Since he came here, he has grown about four inches, and physically he's a man. Now he looks like a thoroughbred."
Marshall also remembers Murry drilling seven three-pointers in an AAU game, but ironically that part of Murry's game has actually regressed. Murry, however, made up for it by developing other skills. He developed a reliable midrange game -- a lost art in college basketball -- and turned himself into a great defender. (Murry was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's all-defensive team as a sophomore as well as this season.) With the team lacking a true point guard at the start of last season, Murray played that position for the first time in his career. When the teammate who was supposed to play the point, Joe Ragland, improved enough to take the reins midway through the season, Murry shifted to the wing. This season, he shifted even further to the small forward.
Murry has done a little of everything at Wichita State, but it has added up to a lot. He is six assists away from becoming the school's all-time leader. He also ranks second on the school's all-time steals list, he's in the top 10 in games played, three-pointers and free throws made, and he's 11th in scoring. His versatility and savvy has held the Shockers together through tough times, and he is a major reason why they played their way into the national rankings and claimed the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship.
"The beautiful thing about him is that he's so malleable," Marshall says. "Talk about the ultimate glue. Whatever we've needed him to be, he has been that guy."
"He was this scrawny little kid, but you could see he was this young colt who could develop," Marshall says. "He had big feet, long arms. Since he came here, he has grown about four inches, and physically he's a man. Now he looks like a thoroughbred."
Marshall also remembers Murry drilling seven three-pointers in an AAU game, but ironically that part of Murry's game has actually regressed. Murry, however, made up for it by developing other skills. He developed a reliable midrange game -- a lost art in college basketball -- and turned himself into a great defender. (Murry was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's all-defensive team as a sophomore as well as this season.) With the team lacking a true point guard at the start of last season, Murray played that position for the first time in his career. When the teammate who was supposed to play the point, Joe Ragland, improved enough to take the reins midway through the season, Murry shifted to the wing. This season, he shifted even further to the small forward.
Murry has done a little of everything at Wichita State, but it has added up to a lot. He is six assists away from becoming the school's all-time leader. He also ranks second on the school's all-time steals list, he's in the top 10 in games played, three-pointers and free throws made, and he's 11th in scoring. His versatility and savvy has held the Shockers together through tough times, and he is a major reason why they played their way into the national rankings and claimed the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship.
"The beautiful thing about him is that he's so malleable," Marshall says. "Talk about the ultimate glue. Whatever we've needed him to be, he has been that guy."
Comment