Murray State University Athletics
2018-19 Men's Basketball Roster
Roster
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/ Men's Basketball
Jersey Number 12
Ja Morant
- Position:
- Guard
- Height:
- 6-3
- Weight:
- 175
- Class:
- Sophomore
- Hometown:
- Dalzell, S.C.
- High School:
- Crestwood HS
2018-19
2017-18
Before MSU
Personal
- Turned in one of the top single seasons in Murray State and OVC history.
- Won multiple All-America Honors (Updated as of March 27). Eight All-America honors including first team recognition by National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated and the USBWA. Named to second-team honors by NBC Sports, Sporting News, Stadium and USA TODAY Sports.Â
- (Updated March 27) Was named to the list of four finalists for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the Naismith Trophy, and one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award; each award is given to the National Player of the Year. He is also one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard.
- Named OVC Player of the Year. His selection gave the Racers have back-to-back winners after Jonathan Stark won it in 2018. This marks the first time the Racers had back-to-back winners that didn't involve the same player. Morant is the 15th Murray State player to be named OVC Player of the Year for a total of 20 awards.
- Finished the season with 331 assists, the sixth-most in NCAA single-season history.
- Averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists/game making him the first player to average 20/10 in a season since the NCAA began to officially recognize assists in 1983-84. His 10.0 assists/game was 2.3 assists/game more than second place.
- Ranked eighth nationally in scoring (24.5 points/game), ninth in double-doubles (20) and 82nd in steals (1.76/game).
- Recorded three triple-doubles (including only the ninth in NCAA Tournament history), which led the country (he was one of only two people with multiple triple-doubles in 2018-19).
- Had had 15 games this season with 20-plus points and 10-plus assists; no other player nationally has three such games.
- His 18 assists in a game against UT Martin are the most by a Division I player this year and the second-most in OVC single-game history.
- His 20 double-doubles were four off the nation's lead and he is the only player in the top 25 nationally in double-doubles under 6'6" tall.
- In January Morant became the first Division I player in 20 years to record 40 points, 11 assists and five steals in a regulation game (doing so vs. SIUE). In that contest he hit 21-of-21 free throws, establishing a new OVC single-game record (just three off the NCAA mark); he was the first Division I player with 21 or more made free throws in a game without a miss in the past 20 years.
- He was named MVP of the OVC Tournament after averaging 32.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists/game while hitting 55.4 percent from the field and 79.2 percent from the free throw line.
- Had 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a semifinal win over Jacksonville State, including converting a traditional three-point play in the final 10 seconds to give him team the win.
- Scored 36 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists in a title game win over Belmont.Â
- Scored 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds in the First Round NCAA Tournament win over Marquette, marked just the ninth triple-double in NCAA Tournament history (since assists became an official stat in 1983-84). The 16 assists tied a first round NCAA record and were the second-most ever in a NCAA Tournament game
- Helped Murray State to a 28-5 overall and 16-2 OVC record, a share of the OVC regular season championship and the program's second-straight and record 17th OVC Tournament Championship.Â
2017-18
- Named All-OVC First Team & All-OVC Newcomer Team.
- Started every one of the Racers' 32 games as a freshman.
- Had just MSU’s second triple-double in records that date back to 1984 when he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists at home vs EIU.
- Had four games of 12-plus rebounds, including a pair of 12 rebound games vs Saint Louis and SIUE.
- Was 40th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.62).
- Was 14th in the nation in assists per game at 6.2, was second among all freshmen nationally.
- Was 16th nationally with 201 assists, which was just the third season in MSU history of 200 in a single-season.
- His 6.2 assists per game marked the best in MSU history since Chad Townsend averaged 7.1 in 1996-97.
- He joined Marshall's Jon Elmore as one of only two players in NCAA D-I with 400 points, 200 rebounds, and 200 assists.
- Had six double-doubles on the season.
- Scored 12.7 points per game in his freshman season on 46 percent shooting, including 30 percent from the 3-point line. He was an 80 percent shooter from the free throw line.
Before MSU
- Named South Carolina Class 3A All-State as a junior and senior at Crestwood High School.
- Was a three-time South Carolina All-State pick and three-time All-Region MVP.
- Finished as the school's all-time scorer with 1,679 points.
- As a senior in 2016-17 and before that as a junior in 2015-16, he averaged nearly a triple-double with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game.
- Had a high-scoring game of 47 points against Sumter.
Personal
- Born Aug. 10, 1999, son of Tee and Jamie Morant.
- Undeclared on a major.
2025 Murray State Hall of Fame Inductee Casey Brockman
Tuesday, January 20
2025 Murray State Hall of Fame Inductee Danny Alfeldt
Tuesday, January 20
2025 Murray State Hall of Fame Inductee Alexa Becker
Tuesday, January 20
2025 Murray State Hall of Fame Inductee Ivan Roe
Tuesday, January 20
