Aaric Murray

Aaric Murray (born July 3, 1989) is an American basketball player who last played for Panelefsiniakos of the Greek Basket League. Murray played college basketball for the Texas Southern, as well as La Salle and West Virginia. Murray was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2014.[1]

Aaric Murray
Personal information
Born (1989-07-03) July 3, 1989
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolGlen Mills (Glen Mills, Pennsylvania)
College
NBA draft2014 / Undrafted
Playing career2014–present
PositionPower forward / Center
Career history
2014Panelefsiniakos
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Murray was brought up in North Philadelphia. He didn't begin playing basketball until relatively late, since he didn't want to be made fun of for his height and not knowing how to play the game. Murray was sent to the Glen Mills School, a school for court-adjudicated children, due to being frequently truant.[2] He was the number 31 overall prospect in the class of 2009 according to Scout.com.[3]

College career

Murray started his collegiate career at La Salle. Despite being a promising prospect, he clashed with Explorers coach John Giannini. "I just had a little attitude problem, I guess," Murray said. "I was young or something, I don't know."[2] As a sophomore, Murray averaged 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds.[4] Giannini forced Murray to transfer after his sophomore year.[2]

Murray opted to transfer to West Virginia. During his redshirt year, he was arrested for possessing marijuana.[2] He was also suspended in 2012 by coach Bob Huggins for a disciplinary violation. In his junior year, Murray averaged 8.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on a 13-19 Mountaineers team.[4] Murray acknowledged that he partied too much and got into trouble at West Virginia. After the season, he decided to transfer again, this time to Texas Southern.[2]

At Texas Southern, Murray worked out with John Lucas. Lucas recalled that Murray at first resisted his training regimen, but eventually came to accept it. On December 18, 2013, Murray scored 48 points against Temple in a one-point upset at the Liacouras Center, setting records for the most points scored against Temple by one player as well as a new arena record.[2] He was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2014.[1] He also picked up SWAC Defensive Player of the Year honors after averaging 21 points and almost 8 rebounds a game on a team that captured the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[3]

Professional career

Following the close of his college career, Murray signed with Panelefsiniakos of the Greek Basket League.[5]

References
  1. "TSU's Aaric Murray named SWAC Player of the Year". Chronicle News Services. March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  2. Jensen, Mike (February 24, 2014). "Aaric Murray working to bring maturity level in line with talent level". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  3. Jackson, Zak (March 18, 2014). "Ex-bad boy Murray making most of last shot at basketball stardom". Fox Sports. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  4. Gleeson, Scott (August 23, 2013). "Embattled big man Aaric Murray picks Texas Southern". USA Today. Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  5. Trapani, E. (August 26, 2014). "Panelefsiniakos signs Elijah Johnson and rookie Aaric Murray". Sportnando.net. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
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