A week ago, current Oregon forward Elgin Cook stirred up Twitter with a bait and switch.
Cook tweeted, ‘”Welcoming our newest commit Jamal Murray into the family,” before immediately deleting the post. People didn’t know whether to believe Cook or not.
Wednesday, Jamal Murray made it official: He’s not going to Oregon. Instead, he’s going to Kentucky.
Wearing a Canadian flag on his back and standing at a “SportsCenter” podium, Murray, a five-star shooting guard out of Ontario, Canada – who reclassified from the 2016 recruiting class, to 2015 – committed to play for basketball powerhouse Kentucky over Oregon.
UK Blues underneath, now rocking the UK hat. Kentucky got themselves a fantastic young man and player. pic.twitter.com/GXzwpgXFXd
— Michael Visenberg (@NBADraftMikeyV) June 24, 2015
Many believed coming down the home stretch that Oregon was in the lead to land Murray. Sonny Bairos of CanadianBallers.com reported Sunday that Oregon was the front-runner’s for the Canadian star’s services.
Sweepstakes for Jamal Murray signature is between Kentucky and Oregon. Consensus is that the Ducks are front runners. Story coming
— Sonny Bairos (@sonnybairos) June 21, 2015
Murray and Oregon have been in contact over the last couple months. According to 247sports, Murray took an unofficial visit to Oregon on April 8 before Ducks coach Dana Altman visited him in Ontario two weeks later. Murray then headed to Kentucky for an official visit in May, before rounding out his visits by taking an official trip to Oregon on June 4.
Oregon fans got a chance to see Murray in action back on April 11 when he starred for the World Select team against Team USA in the Moda Center at the Nike Hoop Summit (Portland, Oregon). Murray scored a game-high 30 points (12-of-23, 3-of-7 from three-point range) to beat team USA 103-101.
“[Murray] just seemed to be in control from the beginning,” Team USA coach Eric Flannery told Jerry Ulmer of the Oregonian/OregonLive.com after the game. “We were double-teaming and trying to get the ball out of his hands as much as we could. But he was very strong with the ball and kept attacking the rim. He was without question the difference for four quarters tonight in the game.”
Murray, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Athlete Institute Basketball Academy, is ranked as the seventh best shooting guard, and 30th best prospect, in the 2015 recruiting class.
According to 247sports, Kentucky had the second best 2015 recruiting class before Murray’s decision. Murray will certainly bolster an already deep class.
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt
