One On One With Matt McMahon

Part One – Components for Success

(St. Louis, MO) – When it’s been a long time since you went dancing, you can be nervous and bothered by many things. Reducing distractions can be very important so that you can have a good time.

Murray State hasn’t been to ‘The Big Dance’ since 2012 and head coach Matt McMahon is trying to minimize distractions, prepare in a normal fashion, keep his players focused and yet, enjoy the fruits of a great accomplishment and allow his players to express their true excitement.

The third year head coach has never taken a team to the NCAA Tournament and this week is out recruiting, just like he would be any other early March during his coaching career, only this week, he’s doing it as the head coach of a team that will be on one of those lines in the bracket that people will be filling out next week.

McMahon says since the Racers were the first team to qualify, the media requests have exploded, but he is excited for his players and for the fans that support his team so well. McMahon felt all along his team could do special things.

 

 

Early season, quality wins over Wright State, Southern Illinois (Carbondale) and Illinois State, coupled with near misses against Conference USA champion Middle Tennessee and SEC champ Auburn fueled the confidence of the coach, players and fans. After the Auburn loss, the Racers stood 7-3. They would finish with a 19-2 run with their only losses coming at Jacksonville State and at Belmont.

McMahon says as far back as last summer, he felt confident his team could be an NCAA Tournament qualifier. One of the reasons for his confidence is the play of freshman point guard, Ja Morant.

 

 

Jonathan Stark is the headliner on this team. The senior guard was the ‘Preaseason Player of the Year’, the ‘Player of the Year’ and the MVP of the conference tournament and led the OVC in scoring. McMahon says his star guard routinely rises to the occasion because of his relentless hard work.

 

 

There are other pieces to this team that are impressive. Fellow senior Terrell Miller has scored 900 points in his two seasons since transferring in from Southwest Mississippi Junior College. He has averaged over eight rebounds per game and the 6’8 forward has connected on 113 three-point attempts. As the primary post player, he is something of a match up problem.

Morant has gaudy rookie numbers. 12.7 points per game, 6.4 assists and 6.6 rebounds. Oh, and he makes 80% of his free throw attempts. Morant is a rare combination of talent, court awareness and athleticism. Coach McMahon says he believes his freshman quarterback can hold up under the pressure of the NCAA Tournament.

Murray State has won 13 straight games, they’ve defeated NCAA qualifier Wright State, went 10-3 on the road and 2-0 on neutral floors. Their scoring margin is a whopping 13.4 points per game. The Racers led the OVC in rebounding margin and they were tops in the conference in defending the three-point line.

Coach McMahon played in the NCAA Tournament and was an assistant coach under Steve Prohm, the last time the Racers went dancing.

In Part Two we’ll discuss what he learned from those experiences, how he’s preparing the Racers for the week ahead and his relationship with his former mentor Steve Prohm.

Do Good