Billy Kennedy Chosen To Lead Murray State Men's Basketball Program

Billy Kennedy has been selected as Murray State University's new head men's basketball coach, MSU Director of Athletics Allen Ward announced today at a press conference in the Murray Room of the Regional Special Events Center (RSEC). Kennedy comes to Murray State after six years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and one season as an assistant at the University of Miami (Fla.).

In his final two seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, Kennedy guided the Lions to a 44-18 record, two Southland Conference regular season titles and the school's first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Following the 2005 season, Kennedy was named Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches, and was honored as the District 8 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches marking the second consecutive season he was honored by all three organizations.

“Billy is a proven recruiter, proven head coach, a class act and a proven winner,” Ward said. “I am confident he will continue the winning tradition that is established and expected at Murray State. Throughout the process, I continued to be impressed with the fact that he was winning at programs with far less resources and tradition than what exists at Murray State.”

In 2004-05, Southeastern posted a 24-9 record, the best in school history, won its second consecutive Southland Conference title with a 13-3 league mark, claimed the school's first ever conference tournament championship and advanced to face Oklahoma

State in the NCAA Tournament.

“I'm so excited to be here at Murray State,” Kennedy said. “For me the biggest attraction of all is how the fans and students of Murray State are basketball crazy. I'm looking forward to experiencing it and continuing the great Racer tradition. I'm used to coming into a program and turning it around, this is one that I need to keep going and take it another step further.”

Last season at Miami, Kennedy helped lead the Hurricanes to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament with an 18-16 record. In only their second season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Miami went 7-9 and finished tied for seventh. UM had wins over North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Maryland and Oklahoma State.

During Kennedy's tenure at Southeastern Louisiana, the Lions became known for their tenacious defense and the 2004-05 season was no exception as SLU ranked first in the Southland Conference in scoring defense (55.8) and turnover margin (+3.70), ranked second in field goal percentage defense (41.7) and was third in steals (9.09).

“Our team this year gained notoriety for being tough-minded and playing hard defensively night in and night out,” said Ward. “Our fans will see similar characteristics of coach Kennedy's teams.”

In 2003-04, Kennedy led the Lions to a 20-9 record and the program's first regular season conference championship. At 11-5, SLU continued a trend of improving its league mark in each of Kennedy's seasons at the school. For his team's accomplishments, Kennedy was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year.

Murray State University Athletics

Billy Kennedy Chosen To Lead Murray State Men's Basketball Program

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