Murray State Names Head Coach, Polee & Jones to Transfer, Commitment Recap

Steve Prohm will look to build on the consistent success that Billy Kennedy brought to Murray State.

Murray State announced at a press conference yesterday that assistant coach Steve Prohm was promoted to the head coaching position. Prohm is replacing Billy Kennedy, who was hired by Maryland’s newly appointed coach Mark Turgeon, formerly the head coach Texas A&M. Prohm has been an assistant at Murray State for four seasons and has coached under Billy Kennedy for 12 of the past 13 seasons.

Murray State AD Allen Ward said the following of Prohm, “It didn’t take long to realize that Steve Prohm was the right man to lead this program and build upon the success we have enjoyed the past few years,” Ward said. “He’s a bright, up-and-coming young coach with impeccable character that is fully prepared for this opportunity.”

The Racers finished 23-9 last season, losing to Missouri State in the first round of the NIT. Murray State has been one of the more consistent teams in the OVC in recent years, reaching an apex in the 2009-10 season when they won 31 games and knocked off Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

It seems as though Murray State will be in good hands with Prohm. He has worked closely with Kennedy for over a decade and will look to continue the winning tradition that Kennedy brought to Murray State.

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The Red Storm just got greener. St. John’s planned on only returning two contributers from last season, junior backup PG Malik Stith and 6’8 forward Dwayne Polee II. Now, the Johnnies will only be returning one of these players after Polee announced his desire to transfer yesterday, citing his mother’s health issues. According to the New York Daily News, San Diego State is currently the favorite to land the Los Angeles native.

St. John's, Seton Hall and Connecticut are potential suitors for Lamont "MoMo" Jones.

St. John’s will essentially be an entirely new team next season with only one returning player and nine incoming recruits. Additionally, St. John’s was perhaps the favorite to land Arizona transfer Lamont “MoMo” Jones, who is also saying he wants to be closer to home (New York City). Jones would have to sit out the mandated full season due to NCAA regulations unless he were to seek a waiver that would allow him to play immediately. Jones is also being courted by Seton Hall and Connecticut, all three schools are close to New York City.

However, Jones would not be able to transfer to St. John’s because Moe Hicks is on their staff, according to Adam Zagoria. With this latest development, the options of other local New York teams like Iona, Manhattan and Hofstra come into the picture.

Jones averaged 9.7PPG and 2.4APG for Arizona as a sophomore last season. Most fans will remember his performance this year’s NCAA tournament, where he scored 18 points in the first round against Memphis and  put up 16 points & 6 assists in the Sweet 16 against Duke.

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Recent Commitments:

Percy Gibson (2011) to Iowa State over Georgia Tech & Virginia Tech. Gibson is a real nice get for Fred Hoiberg, especially this late in the recruiting season.

The former Dayton commit inked with Iowa State this weekend.

Stephon Wyatt (2011) of St. Peter’s Prep (NJ) to St. Francis (PA), per Adam Zagoria.

Daouda Soumaoro (2011) to Texas Tech over Washington, Tennessee, Maryland, Oklahoma & St. John’s, per Jeff Borzello.

Dederick Lee (2013) verballed to Arkansas this weekend to play for Mike Anderson.

Abdel Nader (2011) committed to Northern Illinois over Baylor and New Mexico – Nader says he will qualify. Nader was recruited by former Michigan State assistant Mark Montgomery, who is now the head coach at Northern Illinois. If Nader qualifies, he is seemingly a major steal for the Huskies.

Marcus Bradley (2011) committed to UC-Irvine, David Wishon (2011) committed to Tulsa,  and A.J. West (2011) of CJEOTO Academy committed to Duquesne.

Adam Zagoria broke the commitments of Decarlos Anderson (2011 – Norcom HS, VA) and Emmanuel Andujar (2011 – Rice HS, NY), both to Manhattan.

Youssou Ndoye (2011) of Lee Academy (Maine), to St. Bonaventure.

Former Penn State assistant coach Lewis Preston landed his first recruit at Kennessaw State in sharp shooter Delbert Love (2011) of St. Edward, Ohio. The shooting guard scored over 1,000 points at St. Edward and averaged 17PPG & 5.5RPG as a senior.

Fred Thomas (2012) of Jim Hill HS (MS) committed to Mississippi State.

Forward Thomas de Thaey of the Canarias Basketbal Academy (Canarias Islands) is headed to NC State.