Report: Keegan Murray makes decision on NBA future

Iowa forward Keegan Murray, a projected lottery pick, has declared for the 2022 NBA Draft, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. The consensus first-team All-American had a breakout sophomore season and emerged as one of the top prospects with his combination of offensive and defensive production.

In the 2021-22 season, Keegan Murray started 35 games and established himself as a top NBA Draft prospect. He averaged 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks after stepping out of the shadow of former teammate Luka Garza. He also shot 39.8 percent from the 3-point line and averaged 1.3 steals.

At Iowa, Keegan Murray played alongside his twin brother Kris, who started one game in the 2021-22 season but played big minutes down the stretch of several games. The two brothers came to Iowa as unranked players in the 2020 recruiting class from Daytona Beach, Florida.

Luka Garza on Keegan Murray

Luka Garza has nothing but love for Keegan Murray. After Murray broke the Iowa single-season scoring record — which Garza previously held — in an 84-74 victory against Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament, Garza took to Twitter to congratulate him.

“History,” the Hawkeyes great wrote. “Finish the job.”

Murray poured in 26 points in the win against the Scarlet Knights to propel Iowa to the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday. That brought his season total to 750, narrowly beating out the 747 that Garza scored just one season ago. Thank to his performance, the Hawkeyes are now one of four teams remaining with a chance to take home the conference crown.

It was the second straight game that Murray put on a show after he added another 26 the day prior against Northwestern. The Hawkeyes made 19 3-pointers — a Big Ten Tournament record — and scored 112 points in that win.

Keegan Murray still ranks behind Luka Garza in career points, as the latter still holds that program record with 2,306. However, given that Murray is only a sophomore, he has plenty of time to catch him should he stick around another couple of seasons. Hawkeyes guard Jordan Bohannon, who is in his sixth year with the program, ranks third all-time with 2,008 points. His 11.1 points per game ranks second on the team this season behind Murray’s 23.4.