Matt McMahon - Men's Basketball Coach - Murray State University Athletics

Photo by: Dave Winder-Murray State Athletics

Matt McMahon

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
msu.basketball@murraystate.edu
Phone:
(270) 809-6804

Murray State Head Coach

The 2021-22 season marks the seventh for Coach Matt McMahon to lead the Murray State men’s basketball program.
Heading into the season, McMahon is the dean of coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference with six complete seasons.
He was named the Racers’ 16th head coach on June 9, 2015.
At the time, he was the third youngest rookie head coach in NCAA D-I.
In 2020, McMahon joined a select group of Racer coaches to have three-consecutive 20-win seasons. The other two were Carlisle Cutchin (1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28) and Steve Prohm, who is the only MSU coach to have four in a row (2011-12, 2012-13, 2-13-14, 2014-15).
Heading into 2021-22, McMahon has 123 career wins with the Racers, behind only MSU's first coach, Carlisle Cutchin, who won 256 games over 16 seasons from 1925-41 and Cal Luther, who also coached 16 seasons (1958-74) and won 241 games.
With 75 wins in the OVC over six seasons, McMahon is second all-time at MSU behind only Coach Luther at 125.
2019-20 Season - Coach McMahon has led the Racers to one of the greatest three-year periods of program history that includes three-straight OVC regular season championships (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20) and two OVC Tournament titles (2017-18, 2018-19).
In the last three seasons, the Racers are a combined 77-20 (.777) overall and 47-7 (.870) in OVC games.
In the 2019-20 season, MSU was 23-9 and 15-3 in the OVC. MSU has nine 20-win seasons in the last 11.
The Racers were Co-OVC champions, marking the program's 27th regular season title.
MSU had an 11-game winning streak, which marked the third-straight season in which they had a streak of 10 or more. It's only the second time this has happened in program history. The first was in the 1930's.
Great defense is demanded by McMahon. Now in the last three seasons, the Racers rank in defensive field goal percentage has back-to-back seasons of leading the OVC and they've led the league in defending the 3-point shot in the last three seasons. MSU also has two consecutive seasons in being the best OVC team in defensive field goal percentage.
At home, McMahon's teams are 44-3 (.933) in the CFSB Center over the last three seasons. They have also produced a 21-game win streak at arena which they carry into the 2020-21 season.
With fans flocking to see McMahon's teams at the CFSB Center, the 2018-19 season average of 5,442 per game ranks first all-time at the arena in 22 seasons and the average of 4,887 in 2019-20 ranks fifth.
2018-19 Season - 28 wins marked 10th time in 94 seasons that MSU posted 25 or more victories.
MSU was regular season OVC champions for 26th time & made their 17th NCAA appearance.
MSU was No. 12 seed and defeated No. 5 Marquette for the Racers’ fourth all-time win in the tournament.
MSU’s last two teams (2017-18 and 2018-19) won back-to-back OVC regular season championships with an overall conference record of 32-4.
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 in the last two seasons.
MSU was ninth in the nation in scoring margin in the 2017-18 season and fifth in 2018-19.
The Racers have back-to-back seasons with 10 road wins.
MSU has back-to-back seasons of one player being the OVC Player of the Year, OVC Tournament MVP and OVC Male Athlete of the Year in Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant.
2017-18 Season - McMahon's third season was one of the best in Murray State history as the Racers went 26-6 and won their 25th regular season championship in Ohio Valley Conference history with a 16-2 record. In the postseason, the Racers won the OVC Tournament (held at the Ford Center in Evansville for the first time) with wins over Jacksonville State and Belmont which sent the Racers to the NCAA Tournament for the 16th time.
Playing in the NCAAs for the first time since 2012, the Racers were a No. 12 seed and sent out west to San Diego where they battled No. 5 West Virginia.
MSU's 13-game winning streak was second-longest in the nation entering the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
MSU was 14-2 at home (9-0 OVC) and 10-3 in away games.
MSU had a final NCAA RPI of No. 48 and KenPom.com had MSU as the No. 62 team in the nation.
Following the 2017-18 season, Coach McMahon was named the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) District 19 Coach of the Year.

Program Success

McMahon's overall mark in six seasons at Murray State is 123-64 (.657). He's the twelfth in 16 Murray State head coaches to have a winning percentage of 60 percent or better.
In his first six seasons at MSU, McMahon's Racers have won OVC games at a .707 clip with a mark of 75-31.
In the 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, MSU won three-straight OVC regular season titles and won two OVC Tournament titles which led the NCAA appearances in 2018 and 2019.
McMahon has been associated with some of the greats in MSU history both as an assistant and as head coach.
In nine seasons at MSU (four as assistant for Steve Prohm and six as head coach), McMahon has coached an impressive group of All-Ohio Valley Conference performers including Isaiah Canaan, Donte Poole, Ivan Aska, Ed Daniel, Jarvis Williams, Cameron Payne, Jeffery Moss, Jonathan Stark, Terrell Miller, Shaq Buchanan, Darnell Cowart, Ja Morant, Tevin Brown and KJ Williams.
Stark and Morant were the OVC Player of the Year winners and OVC Male Athlete of the Year selections in 2018 and 2019.
Shaq Buchanan was named the OVC Defensive Player of the Year in 2019.
Morant made history with a 2018-19 season when he was a consensus All-America and selected second in the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Brown enters the 2021-22 season with a clear path to becoming the all-time leader at MSU in made 3-pointers.
Williams has a chance to become the 10th MSU player to score 1,000 points and grab 700 rebounds.
Both Brown and Williams are two-time All-OVC selections.

Louisiana Tech Associate Head Coach

Had previously taken the associate head coach position at Louisiana Tech with head coach Eric Konkol.
McMahon came back to Murray State only two weeks later (June 2015) when Steve Prohm was suddenly given the opportunity to coach at Iowa State.

Murray State Assistant Coach

He was a key component on Coach Prohm’s staff as an assistant and was part of 104 victories over four seasons from 2011-15.
In his four seasons as assistant, the Racers won a pair of Ohio Valley Conference championships, a CollegeInsider Tournament Championship and an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
In 2014-15, MSU become the first team in school history to go undefeated in the OVC at 16-0. The Racers also set the school an OVC record with a 25-game win streak that was second in the nation. MSU finished 29-6 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
In 2013-14 the Racers won the CollegeInsider Tournament championship and finished 23-11.
In 2012, McMahon was named to the list of best assistant coaches by FoxSports.com and CollegeInsider.com.
In 2011-12, the Racers were 31-2, gained a national top-10 ranking and No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Racers won a game in the NCAA’s and were the final undefeated team in the nation at 23-0.

Before Murray State

McMahon coached some outstanding talent in his time before Murray State.
At Appalachian State, he coached Southern Conference MVP Donald Sims as well as All-Conference picks Jeremy Clayton and D.J. Thompson.
At UNCW, McMahon recruited Adam Smith, a Parade Second Team All-America selection.
In 2010, McMahon rejoined Coach Buzz Peterson at UNC-Wilmington for one season before coming to Murray State when Steve Prohm was hired in 2011.
McMahon went back to Appalachian State in the spring of as an assistant coach.
In 2001, McMahon moved to Tennessee as graduate assistant to head coach Buzz Peterson.
When he finished his playing career at Appalachian State in 2000, McMahon stayed at his alma mater for the 2000-01 season and served under head coach Houston Fancher.

Playing Career

McMahon was known as an excellent shooter and tough competitor during his playing career at Appalachian State. He helped the Mountaineers get to the NCAA Tournament in the 1999-00 season.
He played on three Southern Conference regular season championship teams in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
ASU was SoCon Tournament champions and an NCAA Tournament team in the 1999-00 season.

Personal

A native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., he graduated from Appalachian State in 2000 with a degree in marketing.
His wife Mary is a former standout for the Furman women’s basketball team. The couple has two daughters, Maris (12) and Mabry (8), and a son, Mason (10).