Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Story about Ja Morant from Murray State
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allen
1/23/2019 11:25 PM
Great article my friend. He and Williamson on the same team, wow. Did you see the dunk posted in the article when he jumped over the guy?
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bshot44
1/24/2019 9:58 AM
Ja Morant
Cameron Payne
Isaiah Canaan

Three recent/current Murray State guards that are all in (or will be in) the NBA

All recruited to Murray ... none were transfers.

Has anyone been to Murray? It's arguably more in the middle of nowhere than Athens, Ohio.

When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?

I find it interesting that Murray can find diamonds in the rough and get guys to play there ... but Ohio struggles to find these kind of players
Last Edited: 1/24/2019 10:05:10 AM by bshot44
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Recovering Journalist
1/24/2019 10:35 AM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?
Brandon Hunter was #56 overall in the 2003 draft. He didn't really stick.

Gary Trent was #11 overall in the 1995 draft and played 11 years.

Your point is taken, but it's a MAC-wide problem. Richaun Holmes of BG is currently the only MAC player in the NBA.
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bshot44
1/24/2019 10:53 AM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?
Brandon Hunter was #56 overall in the 2003 draft. He didn't really stick.

Gary Trent was #11 overall in the 1995 draft and played 11 years.

Your point is taken, but it's a MAC-wide problem. Richaun Holmes of BG is currently the only MAC player in the NBA.
And the OVC has five players currently in the NBA (Payne, Canaan, Covington, Clark & Faried)

Never thought I'd see the day the OVC could argue it's better than the MAC. But that is a viable discussion based on the last 10 years.

Maybe not from top to bottom ... but the top of the league in the OVC could be argued stronger the last decade.

MAC is still probably stronger from top to bottom.

Still kind of startling.
Last Edited: 1/24/2019 10:55:05 AM by bshot44
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GoCats105
1/24/2019 11:59 AM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?
Brandon Hunter was #56 overall in the 2003 draft. He didn't really stick.

Gary Trent was #11 overall in the 1995 draft and played 11 years.

Your point is taken, but it's a MAC-wide problem. Richaun Holmes of BG is currently the only MAC player in the NBA.
And the OVC has five players currently in the NBA (Payne, Canaan, Covington, Clark & Faried)

Never thought I'd see the day the OVC could argue it's better than the MAC. But that is a viable discussion based on the last 10 years.

Maybe not from top to bottom ... but the top of the league in the OVC could be argued stronger the last decade.

MAC is still probably stronger from top to bottom.

Still kind of startling.
Just proves that you can find talent and harvest talent just about anywhere.
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OhioCatFan
1/24/2019 12:27 PM
I taught at Murray State for three years after I left Marshall. I can certify its "middle of nowhere" status. That being said, it is a nice community, with friendly people. The culture there might be a little more basketball-centric since they don't play FBS football, but I can't really explain why they are doing better at attracting this level of talent than is OHIO in recent years.
Last Edited: 1/24/2019 12:28:16 PM by OhioCatFan
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Andrew Ruck
1/24/2019 12:47 PM
bshot44 wrote:expand_more
Ja Morant
Cameron Payne
Isaiah Canaan

Three recent/current Murray State guards that are all in (or will be in) the NBA

All recruited to Murray ... none were transfers.

Has anyone been to Murray? It's arguably more in the middle of nowhere than Athens, Ohio.

When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?

I find it interesting that Murray can find diamonds in the rough and get guys to play there ... but Ohio struggles to find these kind of players
It is easy to point your finger at one success and be mad we don't have it and ignore the 200 failures. I imagine 29 NFL teams sitting around saying "Look here, the Patriots have been to 9 super bowls in 18 years. Why can't we do that?"
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brucecuth
1/24/2019 10:43 PM
by the way if you are watching Belmont v.Murray St., u are seeing another OH kid everyone missed on: Belmont's center, Nick Muszynski from Columbus St.Charles. Chalk another one up for Rick Byrd. He had this kid committed early. Byrd raved about him in this year's Blue Ribbon Yearbook. Wasn't a big star...maybe one of top 10 or so kids in the Cbus area last year. Only honorable mention all state. Now he very easily could be OVC freshman of the year.
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greencat
1/25/2019 12:03 AM
brucecuth wrote:expand_more
by the way if you are watching Belmont v.Murray St., u are seeing another OH kid everyone missed on: Belmont's center, Nick Muszynski from Columbus St.Charles. Chalk another one up for Rick Byrd. He had this kid committed early. Byrd raved about him in this year's Blue Ribbon Yearbook. Wasn't a big star...maybe one of top 10 or so kids in the Cbus area last year. Only honorable mention all state. Now he very easily could be OVC freshman of the year.
Muszynski had 20 points tonight on 10-13 shooting, 4 boards, 6 assists, 3 blocks. Murray's center is a slow overweight 300 pounder who can't jump over a phone book, so that was in Muszynski's favor but still having a great year.

Morant tried to play on the bad wheel and that is not a good idea. He came back out of the locker room after presumably having the ankle re-taped and gave it his best try, but he was a shell of his non-injured self. For his long term health, playing him on the bad sprain was a really questionable thing to do.

But back to Muszynski. THAT is the kind of player Saul should have been taking a chance on. His recruiting seems to be kind of random and "catch as catch can." Maybe when a new coach comes in, there will be a blueprint for who to recruit and why.
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greencat
1/25/2019 12:15 AM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
When was last time Ohio had a guy drafted into the NBA? Or stick on an NBA roster for multiple years?
Brandon Hunter was #56 overall in the 2003 draft. He didn't really stick.

Gary Trent was #11 overall in the 1995 draft and played 11 years.

Your point is taken, but it's a MAC-wide problem. Richaun Holmes of BG is currently the only MAC player in the NBA.
And the OVC has five players currently in the NBA (Payne, Canaan, Covington, Clark & Faried)

Never thought I'd see the day the OVC could argue it's better than the MAC. But that is a viable discussion based on the last 10 years.

Maybe not from top to bottom ... but the top of the league in the OVC could be argued stronger the last decade.

MAC is still probably stronger from top to bottom.

Still kind of startling.
Just proves that you can find talent and harvest talent just about anywhere.
Morant was from a high school in South Carolina not anywhere remotely near Murray Kentucky. I hope the next coaching staff will make it a point to have a scout at every state h.s. tourney possible. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, etc. Get the next Morant, get the next Muszynski.
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Pataskala
1/25/2019 11:09 AM
brucecuth wrote:expand_more
by the way if you are watching Belmont v.Murray St., u are seeing another OH kid everyone missed on: Belmont's center, Nick Muszynski from Columbus St.Charles. Chalk another one up for Rick Byrd. He had this kid committed early. Byrd raved about him in this year's Blue Ribbon Yearbook. Wasn't a big star...maybe one of top 10 or so kids in the Cbus area last year. Only honorable mention all state. Now he very easily could be OVC freshman of the year.
On the subject of chalking one up for Byrd, he picked up his 700th win at Belmont last night. 33 years, all at the same school. More than 20 wins a year.
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greencat
1/25/2019 12:11 PM
Pataskala wrote:expand_more
by the way if you are watching Belmont v.Murray St., u are seeing another OH kid everyone missed on: Belmont's center, Nick Muszynski from Columbus St.Charles. Chalk another one up for Rick Byrd. He had this kid committed early. Byrd raved about him in this year's Blue Ribbon Yearbook. Wasn't a big star...maybe one of top 10 or so kids in the Cbus area last year. Only honorable mention all state. Now he very easily could be OVC freshman of the year.
On the subject of chalking one up for Byrd, he picked up his 700th win at Belmont last night. 33 years, all at the same school. More than 20 wins a year.
Was there ever any talk on here a long long time ago about how Byrd would have been a better choice than Tim O'Shea?
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