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01-23-2012, 08:57 PM
Murray State basketball has crafted some memorable seasons before.
But Racers fans have never seen anything like this one.
Through 20 games, Murray State is the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I.
The Racers are No. 11 in the Association Press weekly poll, No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Murray's previous highest AP ranking was 16th, twice in the early 1950s. This is their first season in the coaches' poll, which began in 1991.
"I would say it's been magical, even by Murray State standards," said Dave Winder, color commentator on the Racer TV network and assistant athletics director for media relations. "The Racers have been to 14 NCAAs, so it's not like they've never had successful basketball. But something like this doesn't come along every day."
Murray has won the Ohio Valley Conference championship 20 times, including 14 tournament titles.
The Racers' 25th consecutive winning season also is their first year with Steve Prohm as head coach.
An assistant for five seasons, Prohm took over when Billy Kennedy moved to Texas A&M.
"It's actually been amazing from the standpoint, I don't think anyone expected it," said Neal Bradley, in his 21st season as radio voice of the Racers. "When you have a first-year head coach, we lost three starters (to graduation) ... you have a feeling that you're probably going to be in for some early struggles.
"But they started winning, got confidence; we found out that the senior leadership, plus Isaiah Canaan. It's really a tough team. And it's a team that just will not lose."
Interview requests are off the charts. Winder uses three folders to keep track â requested, pending and done.
Fan interest also has taken off.
"Total surprise. We're very happy," said Janice McClard, a fan of about 30 years who traveled from Murray for last week's game at Morehead. "It's the talk of the town."
Bradley recalled a recent trip to buy groceries.
"Two aisles over, I was hearing conversation, and (Murray basketball) was all they were talking about," he said. "One of them was a woman about 75 years old; the others were young kids in their twenties. It's just all over the place."
The CFSB Center, where Murray has won 16 games in a row, was filled with a record-sellout 8,691 fans two weekends ago for an 82-74 win over Tennessee Tech.
"Eighty-six-hundred people," trainer Eric Frederick said. "Shoot, that's half the population of Murray that came to our last home game. So they're excited."
Last week, more than 6,000 fans nearly filled Morehead's Johnson Arena for a thrilling 66-60 Murray win.
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/23/20401...-glow.html
But Racers fans have never seen anything like this one.
Through 20 games, Murray State is the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I.
The Racers are No. 11 in the Association Press weekly poll, No. 9 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
Murray's previous highest AP ranking was 16th, twice in the early 1950s. This is their first season in the coaches' poll, which began in 1991.
"I would say it's been magical, even by Murray State standards," said Dave Winder, color commentator on the Racer TV network and assistant athletics director for media relations. "The Racers have been to 14 NCAAs, so it's not like they've never had successful basketball. But something like this doesn't come along every day."
Murray has won the Ohio Valley Conference championship 20 times, including 14 tournament titles.
The Racers' 25th consecutive winning season also is their first year with Steve Prohm as head coach.
An assistant for five seasons, Prohm took over when Billy Kennedy moved to Texas A&M.
"It's actually been amazing from the standpoint, I don't think anyone expected it," said Neal Bradley, in his 21st season as radio voice of the Racers. "When you have a first-year head coach, we lost three starters (to graduation) ... you have a feeling that you're probably going to be in for some early struggles.
"But they started winning, got confidence; we found out that the senior leadership, plus Isaiah Canaan. It's really a tough team. And it's a team that just will not lose."
Interview requests are off the charts. Winder uses three folders to keep track â requested, pending and done.
Fan interest also has taken off.
"Total surprise. We're very happy," said Janice McClard, a fan of about 30 years who traveled from Murray for last week's game at Morehead. "It's the talk of the town."
Bradley recalled a recent trip to buy groceries.
"Two aisles over, I was hearing conversation, and (Murray basketball) was all they were talking about," he said. "One of them was a woman about 75 years old; the others were young kids in their twenties. It's just all over the place."
The CFSB Center, where Murray has won 16 games in a row, was filled with a record-sellout 8,691 fans two weekends ago for an 82-74 win over Tennessee Tech.
"Eighty-six-hundred people," trainer Eric Frederick said. "Shoot, that's half the population of Murray that came to our last home game. So they're excited."
Last week, more than 6,000 fans nearly filled Morehead's Johnson Arena for a thrilling 66-60 Murray win.
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/23/20401...-glow.html
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01-24-2012, 02:21 AM
It will be short lived....
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