Murray State University Athletics
Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Coach Matt McMahon Receives Four-Year Contract Extension
4/5/2019 2:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murray State University Department of Athletics announced that Men's Basketball Head Coach Matt McMahon signed a new four-year contract taking him through the 2022-23 season. The agreement was ratified by the MSU Board of Regents at Pogue Library in Murray, Kentucky.
"Murray State Basketball just completed a historic season and we are very appreciative of Coach McMahon's continued commitment to Murray State University," said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. "Matt's values, ethics, leadership and player mentoring approach sets us apart as we provide opportunities for our student-athletes and advance our program to new heights. Also, we are grateful to Matt, Mary and their family and what they mean to our university community."
"Coach McMahon and his staff have led our program to an unprecedented level of success," said Murray State Director of Athletics, Kevin Saal. "Building an elite program does not come without tireless commitment from high-character student-athletes and sacrifice, on behalf of our coaches' and staff families. Thank you to
Dr. Jackson, the Board of Regents, generous donors, loyal season ticket holders and countless sponsors who facilitate our ability to match resources to expectations and retain dynamic coaches to lead all our programs. We're thrilled with Coach McMahon's commitment to Murray State University, as we build this players-first program together."
"I would like to thank our players, assistant coaches, and support staff for their hard work that has led to these special seasons," McMahon said. "Thank you to Dr. Jackson and Kevin Saal for their leadership, vision, and commitment to our program. I would also like to thank our great Racer fans for their incredible support this season. I am extremely excited about the future at Murray State."
Coach Matt McMahon Notes
The successes of the past two seasons confirm McMahon's leadership abilities and that of his staff. However, the main ingredient is recruiting great players to come to Murray. McMahon and assistant coaches Shane Nichols, Tim Kaine and Casey Long have built an outstanding program since joining forces in 2015. The Racers have enjoyed back-to-back OVC Player of the Year winners Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant and All-OVC picks Terrell Miller, Shaq Buchanan and All-OVC Newcomer selection Darnell Cowart. Morant became a consensus All-America selection and is a finalist for the most important national Player of the Year awards including Wooden, Naismith, Robertson and Cousy.
In his four seasons as Murray State head coach, McMahon has a winning percentage of 67 percent with a record of 87-42. He has back-to-back OVC regular season championships and has gone 7-2 in the OVC Tournament with back-to-back titles and NCAA appearances. McMahon was named the 2018 NABC District 19 Coach of the Year and this season was named to the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award finalist list.
"Murray State Basketball just completed a historic season and we are very appreciative of Coach McMahon's continued commitment to Murray State University," said Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson. "Matt's values, ethics, leadership and player mentoring approach sets us apart as we provide opportunities for our student-athletes and advance our program to new heights. Also, we are grateful to Matt, Mary and their family and what they mean to our university community."
"Coach McMahon and his staff have led our program to an unprecedented level of success," said Murray State Director of Athletics, Kevin Saal. "Building an elite program does not come without tireless commitment from high-character student-athletes and sacrifice, on behalf of our coaches' and staff families. Thank you to
Dr. Jackson, the Board of Regents, generous donors, loyal season ticket holders and countless sponsors who facilitate our ability to match resources to expectations and retain dynamic coaches to lead all our programs. We're thrilled with Coach McMahon's commitment to Murray State University, as we build this players-first program together."
"I would like to thank our players, assistant coaches, and support staff for their hard work that has led to these special seasons," McMahon said. "Thank you to Dr. Jackson and Kevin Saal for their leadership, vision, and commitment to our program. I would also like to thank our great Racer fans for their incredible support this season. I am extremely excited about the future at Murray State."
Coach Matt McMahon Notes
- The architect of one of the best two-season periods in the 94 years of the program, McMahon's last two teams (2017-18 and 2018-19) won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular season championships with an overall conference record of 32-4.
- Those teams also won a pair of OVC Tournament titles that pushed the Racers into back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
- In their latest NCAA appearance in March, the Racers defeated Marquette for the fourth NCAA Tournament win in MSU history.
- McMahon's 54 victories is the most in a two-year period in MSU history by one coach. The team had an overall mark of 54-11.
- MSU was ninth in nation in scoring margin in the 2017-18 season and fifth in 2018-19.
- The Racers had back-to-back seasons with 10 road wins.
- MSU has back-to-back seasons of one player being the OVC Player of the Year and the OVC Tournament MVP in Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant.
- During the 2018-19 season, Murray State University reaped the benefits of unprecedented media exposure. From the beginning of November through the Racers' second game at the NCAA Tournament in Hartford in March, the Racers generated more than $277M in free publicity (not counting social media).
- Record numbers of fans flocked to the CFSB Center in the 2018-19 season, including two record-setting crowds.
- (Jan. 24) – MSU hosted Belmont and had a record crowd of 8,969, besting the 2012 mark of 8,825 when the Racers hosted Saint Mary's. (March 2) The record was topped again when MSU hosted Austin Peay with a total attendance of 9,012.
- The Racers were part of two record setting attended games at the OVC Tournament in Evansville at the Ford Center. In the semifinals against Jacksonville State (March 8) 8,294 showed up and another 10,525 were there to watch the Racers win the title game (March 9) over Belmont.
- The CFSB Center had four games of 7,000-plus attendance in the season.
- A 21-year record 87,067 fans watched the Racers in 16 games at the CFSB Center.
- 11,645 watched the Racers combined in away and neutral site games for an average of 6,567.
The successes of the past two seasons confirm McMahon's leadership abilities and that of his staff. However, the main ingredient is recruiting great players to come to Murray. McMahon and assistant coaches Shane Nichols, Tim Kaine and Casey Long have built an outstanding program since joining forces in 2015. The Racers have enjoyed back-to-back OVC Player of the Year winners Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant and All-OVC picks Terrell Miller, Shaq Buchanan and All-OVC Newcomer selection Darnell Cowart. Morant became a consensus All-America selection and is a finalist for the most important national Player of the Year awards including Wooden, Naismith, Robertson and Cousy.
In his four seasons as Murray State head coach, McMahon has a winning percentage of 67 percent with a record of 87-42. He has back-to-back OVC regular season championships and has gone 7-2 in the OVC Tournament with back-to-back titles and NCAA appearances. McMahon was named the 2018 NABC District 19 Coach of the Year and this season was named to the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award finalist list.
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