WKU Basketball: DeSean Murray Leaves Team

In an unexpected announcement, it was announced today that graduate senior forward DeSean Murray has left the team to pursue professional opportunities.

DeSean Murray transferred from Auburn to play his last season of college basketball at WKU. He was expected to be one of two senior leaders on a very young team and be a reliable player on the team.

Murray had struggled with off-court issues and was suspended at the start of the season for a violation of team rules and was cited by the WKUPD with marijuana possession. He made his debut against UT-Martin and scored 18 points off the bench which would be the best game he would have as a Hilltopper.

Murray will leave the Hill averaging 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in eight games.

This comes as a big blow as far as experience on the team goes. WKU will now finish out the year with only one senior (Lamonte Bearden) on the roster and Bearden is just now coming back to the team after being academically ineligible to play this semester.

Coach Stansbury will now look to freshman forward Tolu Smith and sophomore Marek Nelson to step up and play the four spot on the roster. Moustapha Diagne could also help out with depth at that position but he has played very limited minutes and has only played in one game this year.

Murray will look to play professionally somewhere either in the US or overseas. While we can only speculate, I imagine his loss of playing time and being removed from the starting lineup are factors in his decision to leave the team.

The full statement from WKU Basketball is below:

“WKU graduate senior forward DeSean Murray has left the Hilltopper program to pursue professional opportunities.”