Keegan Murray: Early Temperature Check
Murray's off to a torrid start. How does his production translate to NBA projection?
Two words: it’s early.
Only five games into the college basketball season, Keegan Murray has been the early frontrunner for the most productive player in college. The sophomore is averaging 26.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 62% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 89% from the charity stripe.
Nearly 60-40-90 while putting up 26 and 9? Mind-boggling levels of productivity. The Hawkeyes, who are 5-0 to start the year, top the nation in points per game with 99.6. They haven’t faced much resistance as a group yet. Their first five on the schedule were all against inferior competition:
106-73 over Longwood
89-57 over Kansas City
86-69 over North Carolina Central
108-82 over Alabama State
109-61 over Western Michigan
Game number six is also against a rough opponent in Portland State. Those six are, as of Thanksgiving, a combined 13-18 and went 47-82 (.365) last year. Not exactly the toughest group of mid-majors.
Things change for the Hawkeyes pretty quickly. After Portland State, they’ll face a tough gauntlet: at Virginia, at Purdue and home vs. Illinois. Skepticism about Murray’s torrid start to the season should be met with patience until he and the Hawkeyes get through that slate.
On the other hand, the film doesn’t really lie. There are aspects about what Murray is doing that are clearly the work of him beating up on smaller guys. There are also glimpses of such scoring versatility and defensive production that easily should translate to the NBA level. As we try to diagnose just how Murray’s production out of the gate might impact his draft status, we’re going to look at three areas where he is impactful: scoring near the rim, shooting it from deep and using his length to produce defensively.