What’s Next Murray State? – Updated – Brown is Gone

New Coach, League & Roster

(St. Louis, MO) – What’s next for Murray State? After a spectacular 31-win season including both an Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship and the league tournament title, there is immediate work to be done.

Head coach Matt McMahon steered the Racers to historic heights, but now he is coaching at LSU. Seniors Tevin Brown and K.J. Williams, the bedrocks of the roster are both likely to be gone. While a covid-year of eligibility could be utilized, it seems unlikely that they’ll return. Here is the latest from Tevin Brown.

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Thank You Racer Nation💚‼️ pic.twitter.com/G2AahSyoMw

— Tevin Brown (@original_tev10) March 24, 2022

 

Williams is keeping his options open. He has filed for the NBA draft, but has not hired an agent. Brown is yet to disclose his plans. Obviously, the identity and personality of the new coach will strongly influence their decisions.

Justice Hill’s recent twitter post indicated he would like to stay at Murray, but has his options open.

 

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🖤🖤1️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/LQYyloeKTa

— Justice Hill (@JuiceHill) March 23, 2022

What’s Next in Hiring a Coach

People with more insight than me are floating very logical names as McMahon’s possible replacement. Every coaching change has its own set of unique dynamics. So, comparing this change to Porter Moser’s move from Loyola Chicago to Oklahoma may not be fruitful.

When Moser was leaving, it was clear that Drew Valentine was being prepared to take over. The same thing happened at Northern Iowa seventeen years ago when Doug McDermott was leaving, he had prepped a young Ben Jacobson to step in.

Based on what we’re hearing, McMahon assistants Tim Kaine and Casey Long could be on the list of candidates, but neither seems to be the clear ‘heir apparent’. When Moser moved to OU he took his whole staff, minus Valentine and it’s likely McMahon would want to have some familiar faces with him in Red Stick.

Dayton assistant Jim Kane’s name comes up in every one of these discussions. As a former Murray assistant under Steve Prohm, he went with Prohm to Ames. He helped the Flyers into the National Invitation Tournament.

Prohm’s name comes up too. Are there others that would turn the head of a search committee and Director of Athletics Kevin Saal? For some programs this feels like a life-threatening transition, but Murray has sustained high-levels of success under numerous different coaching staffs for decades.

McMahon was highly successful and greatly loved by the Murray State fan-base and he will be missed, but Murray State knows how to do coaching changes and how to roll from one successful leader to the next. It’s actually quite amazing.

What’s Next With the Roster?

This is perhaps more difficult than the coaching change. Heading into a critical recruiting season, the Racers are without a coaching staff. Presuming Brown and Williams are gone, the team will also see the graduation of Jordan Skipper-Brown and Carter Collins.

While conducting the coaching search and hiring process, the recruiting clock is ticking. The transfer portal door is wide open, so hiring the right coach and hiring him relatively quickly is huge for Saal and his consultants.

Heading into a new and better league, minus the previously named players, means retaining players like Justice Hill, Trae Hannibal, D.J. Burns and others is critical. Even if that happens, Murray must also improve its overall talent base.

Three high school guards and one forward could maintain their commitment to Murray State, but that remains to be seen. Braxton Stacker (St. Louis’ Cardinal Ritter) is the most celebrated of the trio of backcourt players. Each one has good size for the position. Cornelius Williams is a 6’10 power forward from Mississippi that would help replace some of the size the team is losing in Williams and Skipper-Brown.

If neither Long or Kaine are hired for the top spot, a new coach retaining Long, Kaine or Ronrico White from the current staff could go a long way towards holding on to a large and talented recruiting class.

There are two obvious roster needs. The first is keeping Juice Hill in the fold. Given his talent, sagger and experience, Juice can be the new ‘face of the program’. The second is finding more fire-power. Replacing the nearly 40 points per game that came from Brown and Williams won’t be easy.

Murray State’s current roster will likely struggle in the Valley. A solid frontcourt scoring and rebounding option is a must and since Hill is great with the ball in his hands, a spot up three-point shooter would be a huge asset.

What’s Next in Conference Action?

As Murray State, Belmont and Illinois-Chicago join the Loyola-less Missouri Valley Conference, most of what the Racer program has done in the past will now be different. Playing at different venues on different days of the week with one old and numerous new rivalries will add spice to the coming season.

Nothing will be familiar. From the coaching staff, to the roster, to the opposition, everything will be different. That can be difficult and exciting all at the same time. Murray will bring a certain level of excitement to the new-look Valley.

Due all the changes and potential holes to fill in the roster, Murray State fans should prepare for a season with a little less dramatic success. According to every known metric, the Valley is significantly better than the Ohio Valley Conference.

But Murray knows how to support the program and build winning and successful teams. It may not look exactly the same, but ‘what’s next’ should be ‘more of the same’ for this successful basketball franchise.

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