Looking Back at the Jamal Murray Era

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="850"] Via Fansided[/caption] Earlier today, Kentucky Wildcat Jamal Murray announced that his college basketball career is over. The Blue Arrow is off to pursue his NBA dreams and reach his goal of being a pro athlete.  Jamal's journey to Lexington was a throwback to the days before the Cal era when recruits would pop out of nowhere and we'd all wonder will he/won't he right up until the decision. Jamal Murray made for one of the most fun Wildcats in recent memory and now we'll review the year that was:

April 12, 2015: A Star is Discovered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwGQMhdItbQ Heading into the Nike Hoops Summit the name Jamal Murray was obscure to say the least. The Canadian junior was known only to the most die-hard of Oregon fans but all of that was about to change. Murray dominated the field of Kentucky targets with 30 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. A star was born and Kentucky made an offer before the end of the week.

2016 Jamal Murray has picked up an offer from the Kentucky Wildcats #NCAAdreams#CdnBallers

– Hoops Hype Canada (@HoopsHypeCA) April 16, 2015

April-May 2015: The Most Mysterious Recruit In The World

Following the Final Four, Kentucky needed another player to fill out the class and replace the seven guys that just left for the NBA. But slowly Kentucky's options for the recruiting class of 2015 began to fall apart. Stephen Zimmerman opted to stay home at UNLV. Malik Newman disappeared in Starkville, never to be heard from again. Brandon Ingram remained in North Carolina and went to Duke. Cheick Diallo picked Kansas. Jaylen Brown choose California. Jamal Murray was the only viable option left on the table and there were several hurdles that would need to be overcome. First, was the reclassification to the class of 2015. Then Coach Cal would need to overcome the long recruitment from Oregon and a late push out of Duke. It was a tough task and one that filled the spring months as news slowly trickled out. April 22nd 2015: Jamal Murray was set to spend his weekend playing at the KBA. He could tour campus, see Rupp, and Kentucky fans though they had the chance to watch the last hope of the 2015 class and use the power of the Big Blue Nation to sway him towards staying in Lexington. Alas, it wasn't meant to be as on April 23rd Murray announced he would not be making the trip after learning he would not have been allowed to meet with coaches or have a tour of the campus with anyone from UK during AAU event. Things went really quiet on the Canadian front for a while. May 19th, 2015: Suddenly, the news broke out of the great white north. Jamal Murray had made a surprise trip to Lexington and was visiting campus. The visit seemingly went well but didn't produce much in the way of news. Murray canceled a visit to Oregon which gave the BBN hope but it was all dashed as few weeks later the star recruit made the trip to Eugene. June 21st, 2015: Jamal reclassifies. After another news drought following Jamal's visit to Oregon a decision was finally made. Murray decided to forgo his senior season of prep school and play college basketball. The race was down to Oregon and Kentucky and the guard would be making his decision live on Canadian SportsCentre. Oh and to make the big blue nervous, Oregon player Elgin Cook welcomed Jamal Murray to the team. Kentucky's season was at a turning point.

June 24th, 2015: Decision Day

Just one day before the NBA draft, June 24th, 2015 was a day unlike any other in the Cal era. Some guy was in the crowd, sitting front row in a green quarter-zip pullover, and not since the Memphis Door has a screen been analyzed so closely. Everyone began to speculate the choice was Oregon based on the green apparel. But in the end Jamal Murray threw off his Canadian flag cape to reveal that he had chosen Kentucky. Coach Cal the Mountie had done it again.

Jamal's Journey to Campus

With the class now set the waiting game for Jamal Murray to get to campus evolved into its own  summer storyline. First was the news that the he turned down a million dollar contract in Vegas to play at Kentucky. Then came an incredible showcase with Team Canada that proved Kentucky had just pulled off the heist of the century in earning the Murray commitment. But the success on the national scene brought some more uneasyness to Lexington:

The one hushed comment you still hear around Lexington is Jamal Murray and his Canadian national team experience. He was added to the Canadian roster today for FIBA Americas and if he accepts (which he is expected to) for Training camp, he will miss time in Lexington. The bigger question is whether he will (after going through Training Camp) join the team if he makes it (which he may). If he does that, it puts UK in a tough spot…he would come to school for three days, then leave and there is a drop dead date that he must return by and it isn’t clear if FIBA Americas will be done. Some are suggesting that could mean he doesn’t play for the Canadian team…and that probably is the most likely scenario. He also could go down there, play for a few and then return. He could potentially get some kind of waiver to continue to play and then return later than normal due to the special situation. Or he could decide to play and then not come to Lexington at all. The latter is VERY UNLIKELY, but I do think it is still in the back of folks’ minds and it does make everyone want to get clarification of what the schedule will be and Murray’s plans. I expect that Murray goes to Training Camp, plays with the team and then skips the FIBA Americas…but we still don’t know for sure and I think everyone will feel better when we do

The worry proved to be for naught as the summer began to wind down and Murray choose not to play for Team Canada. August 25th, 2015: Murray arrived on campus one day before the start of class. The 2015-2016 team was set.

Jamal's Top Five Plays as a Kentucky Wildcat

With the arrival on campus out of the way we can now look back on Jamal's time in the Blue & White. Jamal became the most prolific single-season scorer of the Calipari era and provided constant highlights one bow-and-arrow at a time. Instead of a month-to-month breakdown I'm narrowing it down to my top five plays Jamal made this past season. 5. Jamal Murray V. Ohio State. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-6Poc14bZ0 While the Ohio State game was one of the biggest disappointments from the past season the game did serve as a showcase of Jamal's ability to score at will. Murray entered halftime with only four points. He finished with 33.  His second half effort includes 7 three pointers in a row to get the Cats back into the game and earn the #5 top play plays. Murray gave an incredible effort but just didn't get much out of the bigs to win the game. Story of the season.  4. Jamal kills EJ Floreal

Jamal Murray shoots his teammate with an arrow. RIP EJ Floreal. https://t.co/BMdZsdH8AQ

– Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) March 5, 2016

This wasn't the first time Jamal Murray broke out the bow and arrow but it was probably the best. Kentucky was throttling LSU in the final game of the season when Jamal drilled a three in front of the home bench. He then pierced EJ Floreal with a point blank invisible arrow which the former walk-on sold with an Oscar worthy performance. To top it off, Mychal Mulder was quick to bust out the paddles and save his teammate's life. The whole bit turned the arrow into a basketball phenomenon that gripped the BBN. An enduring image of this season. 3. Jamal Dominates The Gators https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1FcEAJ-6Ok Another game where the total performance was greater than any one individual play.  Murray set his career high of 35 points with 8 made threes against Florida. With his parents in town to see him play he turned in one of the most impressive individual performances in recent memory. Games like this are what put him into the record books. 2. Murray dunks on USC.

Jamal Murray and this team, on a new level #BBN https://t.co/0J1ubFXuMB

– Andrew Cassady (@ACassady_KSR) February 13, 2016

The pinnacle of the 2015-2016 season was probably the road win over South Carolina. After Cal got tossed in the opening minutes the switch flipped on a Kentucky team that had been struggling. They absolutely dominated the Gamecocks throughout the game and Jamal Murray put the exclamation point on it with this highlight reel dunk. When Murray and this team were firing on all cylinders they were very tough to beat. 1. Murray dekes Duke https://youtu.be/AK2w0J84vFw?t=3m24s Jamal broke onto the college basketball scene with an 16 point, 5 rebound, 5 assist, and 4 steal performance against Duke in the Champions Classic. The most impressive of 2 points came as he broke down the Blue Devil's defense and found a soaring Alex Poythress for the easy score.

April 1st, 2016: Jamal Bids the BBN Farewell

And so, nearly one year to the date that he burst onto the Lexington radar, Jamal's time as a Wildcat comes to an end. He's now off to be a likely top 10 pick and join his place amongst the Kentucky players dominating in the NBA. It's been a wild and fun ride to watch Murray come and go at Kentucky where he will go down as one of my personal favorites to watch. Thanks for the memories Jamal!