Ja Morant (2024) - Hall of Fame - Murray State University Athletics

Ja Morant

Induction:
2024

Ja Morant - Men's Basketball (1987-91)

Played for Murray State men’s basketball from 2017-19 for Coach Matt McMahon.
Played two seasons for the Racers in a total of 65 games.
In two seasons (65 games) at Murray State, Morant helped the Racers win back-to-back OVC championships and OVC Tournament championships.
The Racers went 54-11 overall and 32-4 in the OVC.
MSU won its fourth all-time NCAA Tournament game when they defeated Marquette in the first round in 2019.
Became the 12th player to record a triple-double in the NCAA tournament with 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds.
Others include Oscar Robertson, Draymond Green, Magic Johnson, Cole Aldrich, B.H. Born, David Cain, Artis Gilmore, Gary Grant, Andre Miller, Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade.
Morant had four triple-double games in a MSU uniform.
Set MSU single-game assists record in a game at UT Martin (01-10-19) with 18 assists. Just shy of OVC record of 20 by James Johnson, Middle Tennessee (vs. Freed-Hardeman, 1985-86).
After freshman season of 2017-18, was named All-OVC along with Jonathan Stark (OVC POY) and Terrell Miller, Jr.
Summer of 2018, invited to Chris Paul Camp and performed well and his stardom began to grow.
In 2018-19 season, won OVC Male Athlete of the Year and was 13-time All-America selection.
Was the OVC's first consensus All-America since 1971, following Clem Haskins in 1967 and Jim McDaniels in 1971, each from Western Kentucky.
Other awards included: Winner of the Bob Cousy Award, semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy, named Lute Olson National Player of the Year and was part of the Oscar Robertson Watch List.
Morant’s 331 assists in the 2018-19 season was sixth-most in NCAA single-season history as he easily set new records at MSU and in the OVC.
Set MSU single-season scoring mark with 808 points and the MSU career assist record.
Scored 24.5 points per game and averaged 10.0 assists/game making him the first player to average 20/10 in a season since the NCAA began started officially recognizing assists in 1983-84.
Had a run of 12-straight games of 20-points scoring or more
A notable game that put him in the media spotlight was his 38pts at Alabama (11-26-18)
In his 40pts at SIUE (01-19-19), he set the OVC Single-Game Free Throw Record at SIUE of 21-of-21.
Was featured on ESPN SportsCenter as the top play of the day six times during the season.
His jersey No. 12 is retired at MSU and it hangs in the rafters of the CFSB Center on Feb. 2, 2020 when the Racers hosted Austin Peay at the CFSB Center.
On June 20, 2019, Morant was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies as the No. 3 pick.
Became the highest draft pick in the history of the OVC and highest pick in the league since 1994 when the Seattle Supersonics picked Tennessee State's Carlos Rogers as the 11th selection.
In his first NBA Season with the Memphis Grizzlies (2019-20), earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors, the first from OVC since the league was founded in 1948.
His first professional triple-double came against the Washington Wizards (Feb. 9) with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Topped the Memphis franchise record for season assist average that had stood for 22 seasons by Mike Bibby (6.3) in the 1998-99 season.
Set the Memphis record for assists in a single season that had stood since 1998-99 by Antonio Daniels.
Scored 73 points in his first two career playoff games, the most by any NBA player since the NBL and BAA merged to form the NBA before the 1949-50 season (George Mikan had 75 points in his first two playoff games in 1949 in the BAA.).