Germantown native Brandon Murray, who attended and played middle school basketball at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown, led his team in scoring today as 12th-seeded McNeese State pulled off a stunning upset against 5th-seeded Clemson in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Murray, a 6’5” senior guard, came off the bench to score 21 points in 29 minutes of play. He also contributed four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. With 14 points at halftime, he outscored the entire Clemson team, which managed only 13, leaving McNeese State ahead 31-13 at the break. The game concluded with McNeese State triumphing 69-67, marking a milestone for Murray as he surpassed 1,000 career points in NCAA basketball.
Before joining McNeese State, Murray played at Ole Miss, Georgetown, and LSU. During his time at Georgetown in the 2022-2023 season, he started all 27 games he played and finished second on the team with an average of 13.7 points per game.
In high school, Murray played his senior season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, after previously playing at Poly High in Baltimore. He averaged 21.7 points per game in the 2019-20 season at Poly High, shooting an impressive 65% from the floor. He was honored as Mr. Basketball in Maryland by the state basketball coaches association and named Baltimore City Player of the Year. Murray played a key role in leading his team to the Maryland 3A state title and was recognized as a consensus four-star recruit. Notably, he improved his national ranking from No. 146 to No. 85 according to 247sports.com during his senior year at IMG.