The Murray State Racers men's basketball program represents Murray State University in intercollegiate men's basketball. Murray State is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), having joined that conference in 2022 after 74 seasons in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers have played home games at the CFSB Center on their campus in Murray, Kentucky since 1998. Murray State made its 18th appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2022. Five times the Racers advanced in the tournament, most recently by defeating the University of San Francisco in 2022. In 1988, Murray State defeated NC State in the first round but lost to eventual national champion Kansas in the second round. In 2010, 22 years to the date of the 1988 win, the Racers beat Vanderbilt and lost to eventual runner-up Butler in the second round.
Venues Murray State's first basketball venues were Wilson Hall (1926–27); Lovett Auditorium (1928–1937), which had a capacity of 1,500; and Carr Health Building (1937–1954), which had a capacity of 3,000.Bradley 2009, p. 99 Racer Arena opened in 1954 and entertained Racer fans for 43 years. While its capacity was 5,500, over 6,000 people crowded the arena on numerous occasions. Racer Arena is now a volleyball-only facility, one of the largest in NCAA Division I.
Replacing Racer Arena was the CFSB Center, the current home of Murray State men's basketball. Completed in June 1998 at a cost of $20 million, the facility is a modern arena which can host other events besides basketball. The CFSB Center sits 8,602 and includes a $250,000 scoreboard and a 2,000 sq. ft. weight room. The first basketball game at the CFSB Center was against Southern Illinois on November 14, 1998, a 65–62 victory for the Racers in front of 7,633 spectators. It was formerly known as the Regional Special Events Center, or "RSEC", until the name was changed on September 17, 2010, after Community Financial Services Bank donated $3.3 million to Murray State, at the time the largest donation in athletic history.
History In 2005, Street & Smith's named the Racers the 52nd best program of all time. In their prestige system, ESPN ranked Murray State the 30th best programs from 1984 to 2008, breaking a tie with Villanova due to a higher winning percentage. The Racers are the highest "true" mid-major team in their rankings.
Cutchin era (1925–1941) Carlisle Cutchin launched the Murray State basketball program in 1925. At the time, Murray State was a teacher's college and the nickname was the Thoroughbreds. In the 1935–36 season, Cutchin coached Murray State to its highest win percentage for a season at .920, when his Thoroughbreds finished with a record of 23–2. That season also included Murray State's best start, at 19–1. In his final season, he led the Thoroughbreds to the title game of the 1941 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament, at which time they lost to the San Diego State Aztecs 36–34. Since he retired in 1941, he has maintained his position as the all-time winningest coach in Murray State basketball history, with a career record of 267–101.
Mountjoy era (1941–1942) Rice Mountjoy was hired as the next men's basketball coach from Danville High School, where he was athletic director. In his only season with the Thoroughbreds, he coached the team to an 18–4 record. That season was marked by strong play from early jump shot proponent Joe Fulks, who transferred from Millsaps College. Mountjoy left after the 1941–42 season to coach Augusta Tilghman High School in nearby Paducah.
John Miller era (1942–1948) Former Murray State basketball player and then-freshman team coach John Miller replaced Mountjoy as head basketball coach. His best season was his first, when he led the team to a 21–5 record and finished fourth in the 1941 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Hodges era (1948–1954) From Southern Illinois, Harlan Hodges led the team to two NAIA Tournaments and two No. 16 AP rankings in his six seasons, with a 109–66 () record. Bennie Purcell and Garrett Beshear were on the roster during those years and were later named NAIA All-Americans. Hodges left Murray in May 1954 for the University of Idaho in the Pacific Coast Conference, where success largely eluded him. He resigned after five seasons in 1959 to become the superintendent of schools in Anna, Illinois, then returned to Murray in 1964 to teach.
Alexander era (1954–1958)
Rex Alexander was promoted from assistant to head coach after former North Carolina head coach Tom Scott accepted, then turned down the head coaching post at Murray State. Alexander led Murray State for four seasons, posting a 45–54 record, including a 15–10 mark in 1955–56. But after his first team was Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament runners-up, his teams never finished higher than third in the conference and he was replaced by DePauw University head coach Cal Luther on March 5, 1958. Alexander agreed to stay on as an assistant coach under Luther.
Luther era (1959–1974)
In 1958, Murray State hired Cal Luther, who had served the previous four seasons as head coach at DePauw. In 16 seasons under Luther, Murray State won three OVC regular-season championships and made the NCAA tournament in 1964 and 1969. His 1970–71 team reached No. 17 in the Associated Press poll, entering the rankings after a thrilling 73–71 victory over Western Kentucky in Murray. WKU would go on to reach the NCAA tournament Final Four that season. A two-time OVC Coach of the Year, Luther led the Racers to a 241–134 record.
Luther's most notable players were future professional players Dick Cunningham, Claude Virden and Stewart Johnson, as well as Racer greats Herb McPherson, Jim Jennings and Les Taylor.
Cal Luther was a firebrand of a coach. The standing joke at the university was the over and under of Cal throwing off his jacket during a game due to a call by a ref, or from frustration with a player. The latter part of his tenure was marred by an OVC issue with testing and which tests the schools in the OVC used to qualify athletes. During the 1973–74 season several players were disqualified for using an illegal testing equivalency. This happened across the OVC, and Murray was not the only school to lose student athletes. Most of the disqualified athletes were allowed to transfer by the NCAA to other schools, but OVC schools lost the services of those athletes who had not actually taken the SAT, but had taken the ACT.
Overton era (1975–1978)
After three seasons as an assistant under Cal Luther, Fred Overton was elevated to head coach in 1975. After a 9–17 first season, the Racers started the 1976–77 season with a 17–6 record before dropping their last four games for a 17–10 final ledger, finishing second in the OVC. But after the Racers posted an 8–17 in 1977–78, Overton was fired.Racerhistory.com
Greene era (1978–1985) Ron Greene returned to his alma mater fresh off earning the AP Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year award at Mississippi State in 1978.
After managing only four wins in his first season as coach at Murray, Greene led the Racers to 23 wins the following year and an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. The Racers knocked off Jacksonville and Alabama before losing to Illinois 65–63 in the quarterfinals, all on the road. Greene's Racers would win three Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles and reach the NIT twice more under his guidance.
A highlight of the 1981–82 season came when Murray State traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to play against Notre Dame. Murray State defeated a Notre Dame team coached by Digger Phelps 56–54.
His overall record at Murray State was 119–78. While at the Racer helm, Greene coached Racer greats Gary Hooker and Lamont Sleets.
Newton era (1985–1991) In Steve Newton's second season, in 1986–87 the team finished with a 13–15 record. This marked the last time the Racers had a losing season for the next 29 seasons; only Arizona, Kansas, and Syracuse hold longer streaks.
In addition to Murray's win in 1988, two years later the No. 16 seed Racers took No. 1 seed Michigan State into overtime before falling 75–71. The loss in 1990 was the closest a 16 seeded team had ever come to knocking off a No. 1 seeded team in the tournament. While a 16 seeded Princeton team and a 16 seeded East Tennessee State team both fell by just 1 point during regulation in the 1989 tournament, the 1990 Murray State team was the only 16 seed ever to take a game into overtime. In 1997, the No. 15 seed Racers nearly shocked the No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils in a 71–68 loss.
In 1988, Jeff Martin became the first basketball player in Murray State, and OVC, history to be invited to the Olympic trials for the US Basketball Team. This was the last year that professionals were not allowed on the team. Martin did not make the team but impressed many with his performance.
The best-known player in the Newton era is Popeye Jones. While at Murray State, Jones scored 2,057 points which still ranks fourth all time for the Racers. He is also Murray State's all-time leader in rebounds with 1,374, and led the nation in that category in the 1990–91 season. Jones is the only player in MSU history to record more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Jones helped lead the Racers to OVC championships in 1991 and 1992. He went on to have a successful career in the NBA after being drafted in the second round by the Houston Rockets in the 1992 NBA Draft.
Edgar era (1992–1995)
Scott Edgar was hired as head basketball coach after serving six seasons as an assistant coach under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas. Bringing a version of Richardson's uptempo "40 Minutes of Hell" philosophy to Murray, Edgar led the Racers to two NCAA tournament appearances (1992, 1995) and one NIT appearance (1994) in four seasons. His teams won three OVC regular-season championships (1992, 1994 and 1995), posting a 48–14 record in conference games during his tenure.
Edgar recruited Racer greats Marcus Brown and Vincent Rainey to Murray State, with Brown averaging 22.4 points and Rainey 18.8 points in Edgar's final season at Murray.
Edgar left Murray State after the 1994–95 season to become head coach at Duquesne.
Gottfried era (1995–1998) Mark Gottfried was hired as head basketball coach after serving seven seasons as an assistant coach under Jim Harrick at UCLA. Gottfried was hired shortly after he finished the 1995 season with the Bruins, in which he helped lead the Bruins to an NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Mark Gottfried was also the nephew of ESPN analyst and former Murray State football coach Mike Gottfried.
In Gottfried's first season, the Racers returned four starters, including Marcus Brown, from the Racer team that nearly upset North Carolina in the 1995 NCAA tournament, and the team was picked to finished first in the OVC. The Racers won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship in 1996 for the third straight season; however, the Racers were defeated in the OVC tournament. In the final game of the tournament, Murray State's Vincent Rainey was charged with a foul with two-tenths of a second left on the clock in a tie game against the rival Austin Peay Governors. APSU's Reggie Crenshaw made two free throws and the Racers lost the game 70–68. As a result of the loss, the Racers did not reach the 1996 NCAA tournament. The Racers lost to the Missouri Tigers in the opening round of the 1996 National Invitational Tournament, and finished the season 19–10. Marcus Brown finished his college playing career at the close of the 1996 season with 2,236 career points, which is third best in Murray State history.
With a November 23, 1996, victory over the Belmont Bruins, the Racers began a 47-game home winning streak that would last into the 1999–2000 season. The Racers won the 1997 OVC Tournament with an overtime win over Austin Peay and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.