Prospect Update: Keegan Murray (2019)
A big and skilled wing from Cedar Rapids Prairie, Keegan Murray recently picked up his first offer, from Truman State, and is in line to possibly see several more come in soon.
An established sharpshooter, one of Iowa’s best, Murray has been working this offseason to diversity his skill-set, on both sides of the ball.
“Through the spring and summer, I’ve been really working on my versatility and getting to the rim; my first-step, push off to try and get by guys and stuff like that. Also, I’ve been working on getting my defense better, especially one-one-one in isolation so that I look more versatile on the court,” Murray said.
“A couple years ago, I wasn’t the best defender and I wasn’t the fastest kid on the court. But I think I’ve really grown into my body and I think because of that, I’m able to be more versatile around the rim.”
Last season at Prairie, Murray averaged 12.9 points per game and led the Hawks with 48 made 3s. Next season, with he and his twin brother Kris both returning for their senior seasons, the Hawks have very high hopes.
“We have four of our five starters returning. My brother and I will both have an integral part in production and how we lead the team,” said Murray. “So, I think if me and Kris are vibing like that, I think this is the year we can make a real run for it.”
This summer, both Murray twins have been playing well with one of the Midwest’s best teams, Iowa Barnstormers 17U Silver.
They’ve made the title game in each of their July live period tourneys so far, and hope to win a second straight title this weekend at the Hardwood Classic Session Two in Kansas.
“We’ve really gotten to know each other a lot since the first couple of tournaments, and we’ve gotten to learn how each other likes to play. And now I’m really comfortable doing the things I like to do, and that’s shown in some of my performances this July,” said Murray.
“This weekend, we’ll be playing against better teams and I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing as well as I can and having our team be as successful as we can be.”
Truman State offered both Keegan and his brother after last weekend’s tournament in Minnesota. Keegan was especially proficient at that event.
He’s hoping to continue and keep that momentum going into this weekend, the final live period of the summer.
“Recruitment has been pretty good, Truman State offered us after our tournament this weekend. The Citadel has been contacting us (Keegan and Kris) every week since June. Army has been in the mix and North Dakota State,” said Keegan.
“I went on a visit to Nebraska-Omaha, and they were at our tournament this weekend in Minnesota. And then we went on a visit to Toledo and they’ll be at the Hardwood Classic in Lawrence.”
As twin brothers with similar skill-sets, Kris and Keegan have naturally seen a lot of similarities with their recruiting experience. And although Keegan is not opposed to having he and his bro be a packaged deal, it’s not a certainty either.
“(Being recruited together) is not our first priority,” said Keegan. “Some people think we’ll be a package, but at the end of the day, it’s our own separate recruitment and our own process that we’re going through.”
Keegan Murray is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 25 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2019 class, click here.