Part two of the Steve Prohm era begins in the 2022-23 season when the Racers play in the Missouri Valley Conference for the first time after 74 seasons in the Ohio Valley.
Prohm and his staff rebuilt nearly the entire roster adding 12 players. Outside of returners DJ Burns and Rod Thomas, fans of the Racers will certainly need a scorecard to learn this new squad that features seven transfers, four from Division I and two from Division II and one from the junior college ranks. The new faces include JUCO All-America Brian Moore, Jr. of Northeast Oklahoma A&M where he scored 1,064 points. MSU added two additional 1000-point players in Jamari Smith who scored 1,251 career points at Queens (NC) and Rob Perry with 1,108 points at Stetson. Other experienced players joining the Racers including JaCobi Wood (Belmont), Quincy Anderson (Minnesota State), Marlon Lestin (East Carolina) and Kenny White (Tennessee Tech).
The Racers kept three of their four signees from last November with Jaxon Edwards (Cathedral High School, Indianapolis), Justin Morgan (Memphis Home School Association) and Braxton Stacker (Cardinal Ritter Prep, St. Louis). Patrick Chew (Brophy Prep, Phoenix) and Sam Murray (Harrison High School, Gulfport, Miss.) were also added to the roster giving MSU five freshmen.
DJ Burns is back for his second season in Murray after he started all 34 games of Murray State’s 31-3 run to the national rankings and to victory at the 2022 NCAA Tournament with an overtime win against San Francisco. Burns is MSU’s leading returning scorer at 5.8 ppg, as the Racers return less than one percent of their scoring from 2021-22. An outstanding rebounder, Burns averaged 3.1 offensive rebounds per game last season, ranking him 25th in the nation. His 6.3 rebounds per game ranked eighth in the OVC.
The Racers are no stranger to several MVC teams including Southern Illinois and Evansville whom they’ve combined to play 77 times in their history. Murray State has played recent series with Illinois State, Missouri State and Valparaiso. There has never been a meeting with Northern Iowa, but the Racers have faced Drake in neutral site games in 2015 and 2019. MSU hasn’t faced Bradley, Indiana State or UIC in more than a decade. After 10 seasons together in the OVC, the Racers and Belmont bring an already competitive rivalry to The Valley.
The 2022-23 season ushers in the 25th season of collegiate hoops at Murray State’s CFSB Center. With one of the greatest home court advantages nationally, the Racers are 130-21 (.860) in the last 10 seasons.