Keegan Murray Credits Hard Work for Ascent

Hawkeye NBA Draft Hopeful Waited Until Time Was Right

Keegan Murray (Rob Howe/HawkeyeNation.com)

The decision, it seemed, was inevitable.

But Keegan Murray knew he still had a season to finish.

The Iowa sophomore forward announced on Tuesday what everyone had expected, that he would be passing up his final seasons of college eligibility and enter the NBA Draft.

Murray, the Hawkeyes’ fourth consensus first-team All-American, led the Big Ten in scoring and ranked fourth nationally at 23.5 points per game.

Murray is projected to be a high first-round pick, an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“I think once the year got toward the end, I felt like just me and my family kind of talked a lot about what the next steps were,” Murray said on a video conference with the media. “We really didn't start talking about it until after the season because they wanted me to stay focused on the year and how that went. And that was kind of the best thing for me to just keep that distraction aside. So I felt like it was just in my best interest for me personally to go ahead and declare after the season.”

Murray helped lead the Hawkeyes to a 26-win season and a Big Ten Tournament championship, a breakout season for him after a strong freshman season in 2020-21 in which he averaged 7.2 points. The last Big Ten player to increase his scoring by 16 points per game from one season to the next was Illinois’ Rick Schmidt, who went from 3.8 ppg in 1972-73 to 21.4 ppg in 1973-74 (+17.6).

That kind of improvement drew attention to his game, something built from the time he has put in throughout his career.

“For me, I feel like it's really a credit to hard work,” Murray said. “I feel like hard work can really take you wherever you imagine yourself being, and this was my dream growing up as a kid. And I just credit that to my parents putting me in the best position possible to succeed. Last year, I felt like I had a chance to do something special this year and it's just a great feeling.”

Murray said the decision never weighed on him during the season.

“Yeah, I think there was obviously a lot of talk about it during the season,” he said. “ I felt like I really kept my composure and just focused on our team throughout the season really well. I think it’s kind of like a monkey off your back. Now I can just focus on getting myself better as a player and be ready for my future.”

Murray said he is planning to sign with an agent soon.

“My main focus right now is just getting myself physically ready for that next step,” he said.

“We are excited for Keegan as he begins his professional journey,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said in a statement. “He has earned the right to be a lottery pick. Keegan is incredibly professional and even keeled with everything he does. Not only did Keegan accomplish things no other Hawkeye underclassman has ever done, but he also represented our program at the highest-level. We fully support Keegan and will assist him every way we can throughout the draft process.”

Murray’s twin brother, Kris, is expected to return to the Hawkeyes next season. He was fourth on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per game this season, and should see his role increase next season.

“I think Kris is going to be a special player,” Keegan said. “I felt like he was just scratching the surface of where you can be. I feel like he can lead this team. You can be a great contributor on this team and kind of be the focal point of this team. And I know that he'll be ready for that next season.”

Murray said he knows he has to get stronger as he heads to the next level.

“I felt like over the past couple years, I've been able to kind of help myself physically in the offseason,” Murray said. “That’s another thing that I'm trying to do this year is just improve in every area. And then on the court, just try and make my game better than it was in every area. I feel like I can get better at anything. I'm not even close to where I think I can be. So that's something that I'm just going to try to do in these next couple months.”