Ole Miss and head coach Chris Beard have been hard at work in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason. The Top 10 incoming class paired with returning starters Jaylen Murray and Jaemyn Brakefield should have fans excited. Now, there’s another reason: Matthew Murrell is back for one more year.
Murrell, a four-star prospect originally from Memphis, Tenn., led the Rebels in scoring for the second-straight season (16.2 points) and in steals per game (1.6). He ended the year shooting 46 percent from the field and finished sixth in the Southeastern Confernece in made three-pointers per game (2.4).
Furthermore, Murrell became the 42nd player to score 1,000 points in their Ole Miss career. He is now 16th in career points with 1,444. He is also 5th in program history in 218 made three-pointers.
At the time of his signing, Matthew Murrell was the highest-ranked prospect to ink with Ole Miss.
The 6-foot-4, 200 pound recruit played his first three high school seasons at Whitehaven (Tenn.) before transferring to IMG Academy. As a junior, averaged 20.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
In the 2020 class, Murrell was ranked as the No. 35 overall prospect. He was the 7th-ranked shooting guard and No. 4 player in the Sunshine State.
Chris Beard recently sat down with OMSpirit’s Chuck Rounsaville. He talked about Murrell’s NBA Draft process.
“Matthew has been very transparent with us in his desire to give the NBA a try. He’s 100% in on going the professional route,” Beard said. “He’s got some tryouts coming up and we are excited for him and wish him all the best in fulfilling his dream of playing professional basketball.”
This is the second time Murrell sought out counseling for the next level. After Kermit Davis was let go and the Rebels were searching for a new coach, he put his name in the draft. Now, he will utilize his final year of eligibility and run it back with Ole Miss for year two of the Beard Era.
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