Morant starred for the Murray State Racers from 2017-19 and became a consensus All-America selection
Morant was the classic unknown who struck stardom between 2017-19 with the Racers’ men’s basketball program, accomplishing more in two seasons than many players could in an entire college career.
“When you think of the all-time greats that have played basketball at Murray State, Ja Morant will always be one of the first names to come up,” Director of Athletics Nico Yantko said. “What Ja was able to do in his two years in Murray, and now in the NBA, has been simply incredible and his style of play and production has brought an invaluable amount of exposure to our University and our entire department. We knew that Ja was a no-doubt first-ballot Hall of Famer, and we are thrilled that we will finally have the opportunity to forever enshrine one of the best to ever represent the Racers into our Hall of Fame.”
“Congratulations to Ja on the honor of becoming a Murray State Hall of Famer,” said Murray State Head Coach Steve Prohm. “In his short time with the Racers, Ja was electric and he brought all of Racer Nation along with him. I watched him realize his potential quickly and his performances speak for themselves and it puts him in a rare class of player at Murray State.”
A native of Dalzell, South Carolina, Morant played in 65 games for the Racers and they won 56, which included a pair of Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
In the summer of 2018, between his freshman and sophomore seasons with Coach Matt McMahon, Morant took a leap in both form and notice. By the time the 2018-19 season rolled around, Racer Nation had a good idea of what he was capable of. Part of the hype came after Morant had a successful showing at the Chris Paul Camp and thrilled MSU fans when jumped over four teammates for a dunk at Racer Mania.
In the 2018-19 season, Morant was the OVC Player of the Year and the first consensus All-America selection in Murray State history. His triple-double against Marquette was just the ninth in NCAA Tournament history with 17 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds.
Morant led the nation with 10.0 assists per game and became the first player since assists became official in 1983-84 to average 20 points and 10 assists per game.
In his two seasons at Murray State, Morant set the Racers’ career record for assists (532) in 46 fewer games than when Don Mann became the record holder (531) in 1989. Morant’s career scoring average of 18.7 points per game ranks him 12th all-time at MSU.
His 1,213 points puts him 31st all-time at MSU, but fourth among two-year players just behind Jonathan Stark’s (2016-18) 1,408 points, De’Teri Mayes’ (1996-98) 1,340 points and Cameron Payne’s (2013-15) 1,279 points. All three preceded Morant to the Murray State Hall of Fame.
In the summer of 2019, Morant was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies as the second overall pick in the NBA Draft. He was named the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year and named the NBA Most Improved Player in 2022, as well as being named Second Team All-NBA.
The remainder of the 2024 MSU Hall of Fame class will be announced in the coming days.