Forward Kris Murray announces return to the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team
Forward Kris Murray announced on Wednesday that he is officially returning to the Iowa Hawkeyes for the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. It puts to rest any uncertainty about his immediate future with the Hawkeyes.
That was called into question after the 6-foot-8, 225 pound forward filed for early entry into the 2022 NBA draft on April 14. It looked and felt like a good sign for Iowa when Murray declined his invitation to the 2022 NBA draft combine in early May, but the door was still open for Murray to potentially try his hand professionally.
Now, Murray is officially back in the fold for Iowa for the 2022-23 season.
“These past two months have been a tremendous learning process for me. By going through the NBA Draft process, I believe that it will help me in the long run and this upcoming season at Iowa. I can’t wait to get back to work with my teammates and coaches to play for the best fan base in the world! Go Hawks,” Murray said in his social media announcement.
🔙 to Iowa City! Go hawks🐤 pic.twitter.com/F6GLuHfpJR
— Kris Murray (@KrisMurray24) June 1, 2022
Naturally, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery voiced his excitement about Murray electing to return to Iowa City.
“Everyone in our program is very excited to have Kris back. We are happy that Kris had a positive experience going through the NBA process. He gained valuable feedback through workouts and conversations with NBA personnel. Kris will be awesome next year,” McCaffery said.
Murray’s decision means that the Hawkeyes now return both its leading scorer and rebounder off the bench. Murray 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game also ranked fourth and third overall for Iowa last season.
The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, product also registered 31 blocks and 43 made 3-pointers for the Hawkeyes last year on 38.7% 3-point field goal shooting. Murray connected on at least one 3-pointer in a team-best 17 consecutive games from Jan. 22 through March 13, had multiple steals in 10 games and multiple blocks in nine contests.
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