MSU, Martin land Murray State transfer

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Former Murray State forward Sam Murray II announced on Instagram that he will transfer within the Missouri Valley Conference and play at Missouri State.

Coming off two seasons with the Racers, Murray appeared in 40 games averaging 7.2 minutes, 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. He will have two immediate seasons of eligibility.

The 6-foot-9 forward is the second player to commit to Cuonzo Martin during his second stint as Missouri State's head coach. Martin landed IUPUI transfer Vincent Brady II who announced his intention to transfer to Springfield on Monday.

While he was the head coach at Mizzou, Martin offered Murray out of high school where he was a three-star prospect, according to 247Sports. He also held offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Georgia Tech, LSU, Mississippi State, Mizzou, Texas, Southern Miss and UNLV.

Murray played 20 games in each of his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a freshman, he averaged 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds. As a sophomore, he averaged eight minutes, 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds. He scored a season-high five points twice this season in MVC play against Illinois State and Illinois Chicago. He had a career-high eight boards in the same UIC game before matching the total four nights later against Evansville.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield NewsLeader. You can contact him at 417-3716987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

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Murray State’s Sam Murray II breaks up an attempted basket by Missouri State junior Cesare Edwards during a game at Great Southern Bank Arena on Jan. 10.