From Cedar Rapids to Sacramento: What shaped Sacramento Kings draft pick Keegan Murray?

It was the fall of 2018. Keegan Murray was entering his senior basketball season at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Murray, who was selected by the Sacramento Kings No. 4 overall in last week’s NBA draft, was an unknown prospect and looking to get recruited to play in college.

In one of the first games of that season, Murray threw down one of his now-signature dunks. It was a one-hand flush that caught the eyes of high school basketball coach Jeremy Rickertsen. It was the first in-game dunk of his high school career.

Fast forward to his sophomore year at Iowa and Murray became the only player since 2008 to have 50 dunks and 50 three-pointers in a season. It was a stark contrast to the first few years of his high school career.

The high school dunk wasn’t something that went viral. It didn’t make it on a YouTube mixtape. And it didn’t break the rim. But it was significant. It was one of the first moments Rickertsen thought Murray showed flashes of someone who could have a successful college career.

“Keegan showed flashes in that senior year,” Rickertsen said to The Bee. “He would do something here and there. His first in-game dunk didn’t come until his senior year. It was now one of his patented (dunks) he took off from the dotted line with one hand. It was something we hadn’t seen. His dad and I looked at each other and we were kind of like, ‘He could be special.’ … He showed flashes of being really, really good.”

“When I say that, I mean a really good college basketball player. (Father Kenyon Murray) and I would talk a lot about how colleges are missing on (Keegan). I would be lying if I said in three years I thought he would be a top-five pick.”

Rickertsen first met the Keegan and his twin brother Kris when they were in fourth grade, playing at a youth tournament. A few years later, Rickertsen had the chance to coach the Murrays when they were in seventh grade. He coached them in five of their last six seasons in grade school.

“I watched them play at younger ages because I go to a lot of youth tournaments,” Rickertsen said. “I saw Kris and Keegan play in fourth grade with their club team. I knew they were in our community and I knew Kenyon before that.”

After playing on his school’s sophomore team as freshman, Rickertsen pulled both Murray brothers up to play varsity basketball. Keegan Murray went from a 6-foot sophomore to 6-foot-5 heading into his junior season. By the time he was a senior, Keegan had grown to 6-foot-8.

As his coach said, people naturally gravitated toward the Murray brothers because of their height and athletic ability. Both of them played golf in high school and GPAs over 3.5.

“I wouldn’t call him shy, he was just quiet,” Rickertsen said. “Having said that, people gravitated toward him and Kris as well because of their stature, they were positive and were active in a lot of things. He was always very respectful and very hard-working. All of his academic teachers say the same thing,”

The long road of recruiting

Coming out of Prairie, Murray had only one scholarship offer. It was from Western Illinois, and he received it late in his senior season.

As Murray recounted in an interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports before the NBA draft, the Western Illinois coach left and most of that team entered the transfer portal.

Murray considered going to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, but instead elected to go to DME Academy, a fifth-year prep school in Florida. He was ranked as the 334th-best player in the class of 2020 by 247Sports.

Once he got to the Sunshine State, it didn’t take long for Murray to get noticed. Iowa offered the brothers a scholarship after a jamboree with DME Academy. They committed to the school in October 2019.

“It was kind of a perfect storm and timing,” Rickertsen said. “They were coming into their own, late-bloomers. People saw the potential. At DME, they pretty much worked out and played basketball. That was perfect for Keegan that year. … It was a process.”

Murray’s connection to the Hawkeyes’ program runs deep, preceding the moment Iowa coach Fran McCaffery offered the twins a scholarship. In the final week of the regular season at Prairie, his team faced off against Iowa City West High School, where McCaffery’s son Patrick was a star.

Keegan Murray had the task of guarding Patrick and held the all-state player to under 10 points. Murray finished with 26 points and eight rebounds and Prairie won 62-54.

The elder McCaffery was in the stands.

“Keegan absolutely shut him down,” Rickertsen said. “... That was kind of a point where Fran kind of understood that he needed to pay a little bit more attention to Keegan and Kris. A couple of weeks later, they played in an all-star game together and Keegan won the 3-point contest and surely outplayed Patrick.”

Arriving to Iowa

After Keegan and Kris finished their post-grad year at DME Academy, it was time to go to back to Iowa.

Kenyon Murray knew the campus inside and out. He had a decorated career at the school in the early 1990s as a player and is third all-time in steals. He also played in 122 consecutive games. Kenyon won Michigan’s Mr. Basketball award in 1992 as a senior and played against Sacramento Kings legend Chris Webber the year prior.

Fans on Iowa recruiting message boards questioned if this was simply a legacy move by the school offering the brothers a scholarship where their dad played.

One of the first interactions Keegan had at Iowa was local reporters questioning if he was a scholarship player or walk-on. David Eickholt, who covers Iowa for 247Sports, recalled the doubts some fans had about Keegan.

“There were several questions about Keegan when he committed to Iowa,” Eickholt said. “Many people believed Fran was just doing the Murray family ‘a favor’ when offering him a scholarship. ... The reality is that if Iowa hadn’t been the first to offer Keegan, he would have been a guy that earned 20 or more offers following his prep school season. He continued to extend his shooting range, put on a lot of muscle and put DME Academy on the map in the prep school world. Keegan would have had a high level of success either way, but being the underdog is something that he has thrived on his entire life.”

The NBA Draft

It was the night of the NBA draft in Cedar Rapids. A group of about 75 kids gathered at the school to watch their hometown hero get drafted. When they heard Murray’s name called, cheers erupted. People clapped. One of their own was a top-five pick.

Murray and his father left the kids in attendance signed memorabilia — pictures, cards and hats. They handed them out to the students in attendance after the pick was made.

“It’s been surreal and fun at the same time,” Rickertsen said. “A lot of young kids came to watch (his draft party). Keegan and Kenyon had left some signed pictures, cards and hats. We gave that stuff away after he got drafted. Seeing the kids light up and seeing the Murray family, it was emotional. It was neat and it’s really special for our program and community.”

After Murray was drafted, he called his coach. In the background on speaker phone were some of Keegan’s old teammates and friends from high school. Rickertsen said despite the magnitude of the moment, Keegan treated it as just another day.

“It was amazing how low-key (it was when he called),” Rickertsen said. “You would’ve thought it was just (another night) ... It’s just another day for Keegan, which obviously it’s not, but that’s just his demeanor and the way he approaches things. When I hung up, everyone was like ‘Oh my gosh’ and that was so cool. I wouldn’t have expected to act any different I guess. It’s surreal how far he has come and what he is doing.”

His coach added on what Sacramento can expect, “Keegan is a humble hard worker. He wants to win. Not only in basketball, but everything he does. That includes life and being a family person. Just a quality individual. He’s going to represent the city and team in a positive light in all aspects.”