Murray State Racers
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University, located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
Varsity teams
Murray State competes in 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football and golf; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include rifle.Murray State men's athletics began in 1925–26, the school's third year, with the first women's team following in 1928–29. The teams were originally known as the Thoroughbreds as a nod to the state of Kentucky's history with horseracing. Over time, however, sports writers and editors found the name to be too cumbersome, so they often shortened it to "T-Breds", "Breds", "Race Horses", and "Racers". The Racers nickname began to grow in popularity through the late 1950s, and it was adopted as the official nickname in 1961. The baseball team continued to use the Thoroughbreds or "Breds" nicknames until 2014. The women's teams were known as Lady Racers until "Lady" was officially dropped in 2007.
A charter member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Murray State University sponsors five men's, nine women's and one co-ed teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. On January 7, 2022, it was announced that Murray State would join the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022.
Men's basketball
Murray State is known for its men's basketball program, which has won 28 Ohio Valley Conference regular season championships, 18 OVC tournament championship, and made 18 appearances in the NCAA tournament, most recently in 2022. The tournament appearances included one win in 1988 the Racers defeated North Carolina State in the first round but lost to Kansas in the second round. In 2010, 22 years to the date of the 1988 win, the Racers beat the Vanderbilt Commodores and lost to the Butler Bulldogs in the second round. In the 2006 tournament, junior guard Trey Pearson missed a critical 3-point shot in the final seconds of the first-round game against No. 3 seeded defending champion North Carolina. UNC was fouled on the rebound and went to the line to sink the game clinching shots to defeat the No. 14 seeded Racers 69–65.The Racers won their first-round game in the 2010 NCAA tournament in dramatic fashion, defeating fourth-seeded Vanderbilt 66–65 on a buzzer beating jump shot by senior Danero Thomas. This was the first time that any Ohio Valley Conference team had advanced to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament since Middle Tennessee State advanced in 1989.
One of the more famous tournament games in the program's history was their first-round matchup against #1 seeded Michigan State in 1990, in which they took to overtime before finally succumbing to the Spartans 75–71, making them one of the closest #16 teams to defeating a #1 seed since the 64-team format came to be in 1985 until it was finally done by UMBC in 2018.
The Murray State basketball program first competed in the 1925–1926 season under head coach Carlisle Cutchin. Murray State finished 9–5 in their inaugural season, with the first game being a 31–14 loss to Will Mayfield College. From 1925 to 1941 Cutchin went on to lead the basketball team to a 296–96 record and three appearances in the NAIA men's basketball tournament, where the Thoroughbreds finished third in 1938 and second in 1941.
Current North Carolina State head basketball coach Mark Gottfried coached the Racers to three Ohio Valley Conference Championships, all three years he coached there, the only OVC coach to accomplish such a mark.
The Murray State basketball program has been recognized as one of the top 30 basketball programs in modern history by ESPN. The Racers are the highest true mid-major team in ESPN's rankings.
The most well-known players in Racer history are Joe Fulks, Popeye Jones, James Singleton, Isaiah Canaan, Cameron Payne, and Ja Morant. Fulks starred for two seasons at Murray State, twice earning All-Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors, before leaving school to join the Marines during World War II. Fulks scored 621 points in 47 games during his Murray State career, a 13.2 average in an era when teams averaged less than 50 points a game. His fame grew to greater heights as a professional, becoming one of the NBA's early stars as a scoring champ with the Philadelphia Warriors. He was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.
While at Murray State, Jones scored 2,057 points which still ranks fourth all time for the Racers. He is also Murray State's all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 1990–91 season. Jones is the only player in MSU history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Jones helped lead the Racers to OVC championships in 1991 and 1992. He went on to play 11 seasons in the NBA after being drafted in the second round by the Houston Rockets in the 1992 NBA draft. He's also served as an NBA assistant coach, most recently with the Indiana Pacers.
James Singleton joined Coach Tevester Anderson's team and instantly became one of the top players in the Ohio Valley Conference from 2001 to 2003. Singleton was a dominant force for the Racers, earning two-time All-OVC selection with 811 points and 632 rebounds in 60 games. As of 2023, his 632 rebounds rank first all-time at MSU among two-year players, and his 811 points rank 12th. He led the OVC in back-to-back seasons in rebound average, a feat no other Racer has achieved since. Singleton also set the program record for the best 3-point percentage in a single game by making 8-of-8 from beyond the arch, breaking the Ohio Valley Conference record previously held by UT Martin's Okechi Egbe of 7-of-7. His professional basketball career spanned 14 years from 2003 to 2017, including stints with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, and Washington Wizards. He also had successful basketball stints in China, South Korea, and Italy among other places.
Canaan, Morant, and Payne are current NBA players, with Payne Murray State's first NBA first round draft selection, picked 14th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 NBA draft. Morant was the Racers' highest-ever draft selection, picked second overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, and went on to be named the league's rookie of the year in 2020 and most improved player in 2022.
Murray State's historic basketball rivalry is with nearby Western Kentucky. The two teams became archrivals during their time together in the Ohio Valley Conference. Although the schools no longer share their conference affiliation, the rivalry game remains an annual event on each team's schedule. The two teams have met in basketball 148 times. For the remainder of the Racers' tenure in the OVC, their primary conference rival was Austin Peay State University. Murray State has three built-in regional rivals in its current home of the Missouri Valley Conference. Southern Illinois University Carbondale, already an MVC member, and Belmont University, which moved alongside Murray State from the OVC to the MVC in 2022, are both about two hours' drive away. The University of Evansville, also an established MVC member, is not much farther away than Belmont or SIU.
The Murray State basketball program has become a stepping stone to major-college coaching success in recent years. Five of the last six Murray State coaches have gone on to head coaching positions at major conference schools.
- Mark Gottfried served as head coach of the Racers from 1995 to 1998. Gottfried became the first head coach to win three OVC titles in only three seasons. In his last season, the Racers finished 25th in the final AP Poll. Gottfried went on to be head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference from 1998 to 2009, and the NC State Wolfpack of the Atlantic Coast Conference from 2011 to 2017.
- Mick Cronin served as head coach of the Racers from 2003 to 2006. Cronin coached the Racers to two OVC championship and two NCAA tournament appearances in his three seasons as head coach at Murray State. He served as head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats of the Big East Conference from 2006 to 2019 and is currently the head coach of the UCLA Bruins of the Pac-12 Conference.
- Billy Kennedy served as head coach of the Racers from 2006 to 2011. Kennedy set a Murray State record for most wins in a season, with 31 victories in the 2009–2010 season. Kennedy took the Racers into the second round of the NCAA tournament for only the second time in school history. He served as the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies of the Big 12 Conference from 2011 to 2019 and is now an assistant coach with the Wichita State Shockers of the American Athletic Conference.
- Steve Prohm, Billy Kennedy's top assistant at Murray State, served as head coach of the Racers from 2012 to 2015, and returned to the Racers as head coach in 2022 after his successor Matt McMahon left for the head coaching vacancy at LSU. Prohm led the Racers to 31 victories and the Round of 32 in the NCAA tournament in 2012. His 2015 team won 25 straight games during the season and finished with two wins in the National Invitation Tournament. Between his stints with the Racers, he was head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference from 2015 to 2021.
- Matt McMahon, Steve Prohm's top assistant at Murray State, served as head coach of the Racers from 2015 to 2022. Prohm led the Racers to 154 victories and three OVC Tournament Championships. In three NCAA tournament appearances, McMahon's Racers reached the Round of 32 in 2019 and 2022. After the 2021–22 season, McMahon left Murray State to become the head coach at LSU in the Southeastern Conference.
1951, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
;Ohio Valley Conference tournament championships
1951, 1964, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2022