Murray State University Athletics
Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics
Murray State Athletics - 2020 Homecoming Update
10/26/2020 8:11:00 AM | Football
Murray State Athletics is ready to play its part in homecoming 2020 in a virtual way during the week of October 26-31.
The Murray State Alumni Association has organized a robust schedule of virtual, in-person and hybrid activities! From Tent City to campus tours and trivia, to wine tasting, the Murray State Office of Alumni Relations, in collaboration with the Campus Activities Board and Racer Athletics has a week full of activities.
This article on GoRacers.com is brought to you by Murray Paving, Inc.
Homecoming 2020 List of Activities
The updates are many where the athletics department is concerned because a lot has happened since March.
When the pandemic sent us home in early March, the spring was silent when the Racers would normally hear cheers from the stands. The last official play for a Racer team was a baseball win on the night of March 10 at North Alabama. By March 11, everyone was packing up and heading home.
Now in the fall, we're looking forward to playing again and soon.
It has been a big boost to have Murray State University open since August and the fall semester has gone well and that means the teams of Murray State Athletics have been here training and practicing. The spring is going to be very busy with the Racers 330-plus student-athletes combining to compete in more than 300 events, including games, events and matches, home and on the road.
The springtime shutdown didn't stop Murray State student-athletes from completing the spring semester in a successful way. The Racers produced 133 student-athletes that made the OVC commissioner's honor roll and 22 that received the OVC Medal of Honor for having a perfect 4.0 GPA in the 2019-20 school year. MSU athletics also earned the NCAA's Elite Top-10 Percent APR award.
MSU Athletics has 32 straight semesters with a department GPA of 3.0 or higher. Last spring, every MSU team had a 3.0 GPA.
FOOTBALL UPDATE
It is homecoming and we so wish we could play football, but the time is coming. There is nothing like watching Murray State football in Roy Stewart Stadium where the Racers have played since 1973.
The Racers' 2021 spring football season consists of seven games, all OVC games, with four of them at home.
Murray State Football Schedule (2020 season in 2021)
MURRAY STATE HALL OF FAME – 2020 CLASS
The 2020 class of the Murray State Hall of Fame has been enjoying the summer knowing that they are now hall of famers. We planned to get them all together in November, but have now pushed that to the spring on a date yet to be decided.
The class of 10 comes from seven different sports and this group produced 31 OVC awards of any kind and 11 annual awards like Coach of the Year or Player of the Year.
The 2020 class marks the 38th class since the HOF started in 1965.
The 2020 class includes John Beaton-baseball (1965-66), Jenna Bradley-softball (2010-11), Tara Isbell-soccer (2007-10), coach Billy Kennedy-men's basketball (2006-11), Jackie Mounts-women's basketball (1975-79), Nick and Patrick Newcomb-men's golf (2007-10, 2009-13), Cameron Payne-men's basketball (2013-15), Walter Powell-football (2010-13) and Joi Scott-women's basketball (2005-07).
MURRAY STATE BASKETBALL UPDATE
We expect the schedule for both Murray State basketball teams to be made known soon. The NCAA has set Nov. 25 has the start of the season.
The Murray State women's and men's teams will each play a 25-game season schedule with 20 of those games being OVC games. The Racers also have a pair of flex games with Austin Peay. Dates for those games will be announced later.
Check GoRacers.com for updates.
JA MORANT NAMED NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The amazing career of Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant continued in September when the former Murray State Consensus All-America was named the 2020 Rookie of the Year by the National Basketball Association.
In 67 games for the Grizzlies in 2019-20, Morant was the most consistent rookie in the league as he was named the NBA's Rookie of the Month three
times and led all rookies in points per game, assists per game, double-doubles and triple-doubles.
Morant's honor puts him in a rare category of players in the history of the NBA. He is one of just four players from a mid-major conference to win the Rookie of the Year award since the 1979-80 season. Morant joins Damian Lilliard (2013) of Weber State, David Robinson (1989) of Navy and Larry Bird (1980) of Indiana State as the only mid-major player to earn the NBA's highest rookie honor.
Morant is the first player in the Ohio Valley Conference to be named NBA Rookie of the Year.
And guess what we did? We retired Ja's No. 12 last January and updated it recently to show his NBA Rookie of the Year honor.
RACER 1 ON THE FARM
And one final thing that will leave you with a smile and maybe a few goose bumps.
It's the Murray State tradition of Racer 1.
When the Racers score a touchdown, we get to see Racer 1 go around the track and we are the only school in the country that does this. Emily Helmick is the student jockey for 2020-21. She is a junior from St. Charles, Missouri.
The current Racer 1….his name is Vegas is the first Racer 1 that was born and bred at the Murray State Farm.
Happy homecoming everyone. And Go Racers!
The Murray State Alumni Association has organized a robust schedule of virtual, in-person and hybrid activities! From Tent City to campus tours and trivia, to wine tasting, the Murray State Office of Alumni Relations, in collaboration with the Campus Activities Board and Racer Athletics has a week full of activities.
This article on GoRacers.com is brought to you by Murray Paving, Inc.
Homecoming 2020 List of Activities
The updates are many where the athletics department is concerned because a lot has happened since March.
When the pandemic sent us home in early March, the spring was silent when the Racers would normally hear cheers from the stands. The last official play for a Racer team was a baseball win on the night of March 10 at North Alabama. By March 11, everyone was packing up and heading home.
Now in the fall, we're looking forward to playing again and soon.
It has been a big boost to have Murray State University open since August and the fall semester has gone well and that means the teams of Murray State Athletics have been here training and practicing. The spring is going to be very busy with the Racers 330-plus student-athletes combining to compete in more than 300 events, including games, events and matches, home and on the road.
The springtime shutdown didn't stop Murray State student-athletes from completing the spring semester in a successful way. The Racers produced 133 student-athletes that made the OVC commissioner's honor roll and 22 that received the OVC Medal of Honor for having a perfect 4.0 GPA in the 2019-20 school year. MSU athletics also earned the NCAA's Elite Top-10 Percent APR award.
MSU Athletics has 32 straight semesters with a department GPA of 3.0 or higher. Last spring, every MSU team had a 3.0 GPA.
FOOTBALL UPDATE
It is homecoming and we so wish we could play football, but the time is coming. There is nothing like watching Murray State football in Roy Stewart Stadium where the Racers have played since 1973.
The Racers' 2021 spring football season consists of seven games, all OVC games, with four of them at home.
Murray State Football Schedule (2020 season in 2021)
| Date | Opponent | H/A | Time |
| Feb. 21 | SE Missouri | Away | 2 p.m. |
| Feb. 28 | UT Martin | Home | 2 p.m. |
| March 7 | OPEN | ||
| March 14 | Tennessee Tech | Away | 1 p.m. |
| March 21 | Tennessee State | Home | 2 p.m. |
| March 28 | Eastern Illinois | Home | 2 p.m. |
| April 3 | Austin Peay | Away | 2 p.m. |
| April 11 | Jacksonville State | Home | 2 p.m. |
MURRAY STATE HALL OF FAME – 2020 CLASS
The 2020 class of the Murray State Hall of Fame has been enjoying the summer knowing that they are now hall of famers. We planned to get them all together in November, but have now pushed that to the spring on a date yet to be decided.
The class of 10 comes from seven different sports and this group produced 31 OVC awards of any kind and 11 annual awards like Coach of the Year or Player of the Year.
The 2020 class marks the 38th class since the HOF started in 1965.
The 2020 class includes John Beaton-baseball (1965-66), Jenna Bradley-softball (2010-11), Tara Isbell-soccer (2007-10), coach Billy Kennedy-men's basketball (2006-11), Jackie Mounts-women's basketball (1975-79), Nick and Patrick Newcomb-men's golf (2007-10, 2009-13), Cameron Payne-men's basketball (2013-15), Walter Powell-football (2010-13) and Joi Scott-women's basketball (2005-07).
MURRAY STATE BASKETBALL UPDATE
We expect the schedule for both Murray State basketball teams to be made known soon. The NCAA has set Nov. 25 has the start of the season.
The Murray State women's and men's teams will each play a 25-game season schedule with 20 of those games being OVC games. The Racers also have a pair of flex games with Austin Peay. Dates for those games will be announced later.
Check GoRacers.com for updates.
JA MORANT NAMED NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The amazing career of Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant continued in September when the former Murray State Consensus All-America was named the 2020 Rookie of the Year by the National Basketball Association.
In 67 games for the Grizzlies in 2019-20, Morant was the most consistent rookie in the league as he was named the NBA's Rookie of the Month three
times and led all rookies in points per game, assists per game, double-doubles and triple-doubles.Morant's honor puts him in a rare category of players in the history of the NBA. He is one of just four players from a mid-major conference to win the Rookie of the Year award since the 1979-80 season. Morant joins Damian Lilliard (2013) of Weber State, David Robinson (1989) of Navy and Larry Bird (1980) of Indiana State as the only mid-major player to earn the NBA's highest rookie honor.
Morant is the first player in the Ohio Valley Conference to be named NBA Rookie of the Year.
And guess what we did? We retired Ja's No. 12 last January and updated it recently to show his NBA Rookie of the Year honor.
RACER 1 ON THE FARM
And one final thing that will leave you with a smile and maybe a few goose bumps.
It's the Murray State tradition of Racer 1.
When the Racers score a touchdown, we get to see Racer 1 go around the track and we are the only school in the country that does this. Emily Helmick is the student jockey for 2020-21. She is a junior from St. Charles, Missouri.
The current Racer 1….his name is Vegas is the first Racer 1 that was born and bred at the Murray State Farm.
Happy homecoming everyone. And Go Racers!
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