Prohm outlines strategy for final '23 recruits

MBB: The Racer staff still needs to fill final two scholarships for next year

Steve Prohm instructs his team against UMass during the 2022 Myrtle Beach Invitational. (Photo: Murray State Athletics)

As it is with most college basketball programs, it’s been a numbers game for Murray State since the season ended March 3rd with a loss to Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. In the end, the goal is always to replace the number of players leaving the program with an equal number of additions. For Steve Prohm and his staff, they still have some work to do to finalize the addition side of the equation.

To recap, six players, for a variety of reasons, left the program after the season: Freshmen Jaxon Edwards and Braxton Stacker, sophomores Kenny White and Marlon Lestin, and juniors DJ Burns and Jamari Smith.

Entering the program next season are a pair of high school signees in Lawrent Rice and John McCrear. Last month, Prohm also signed JUCO standout Malek Abdelgowad and Mercer grad transfer Shawn Walker Jr.

That leaves two scholarship holes to fill for next season, and Prohm at this point is looking to use one on a perimeter player and the other on a big.

“I only want to sign somebody if we think they can help us,” Prohm said. “I’m excited about these guys returning, and I’m excited about the guys we’ve signed. Some frontcourt help is something we could look at. Maybe a sit-out guy on the perimeter, because we will lose next year’s seniors: Quincy (Anderson), Rob (Perry), Shawn Walker.”

Getting a player to redshirt for a season is becoming more rare in the college game. Racer guard Patrick Chew redshirted last year, and was the first Murray State freshman to redshirt for an entire season since Tony Easley in 2005-06. Donte Poole was originally going to redshirt for his freshman year in 2008-09, but then-Head Coach Billy Kennedy had to pull the redshirt and use Poole because of other injuries on the team.

You will often hear Prohm use the word “fit” when describing players coming into his program. It’s not as much whether they’re good enough to play for him, but do they “fit” with what he’s trying to build.

“I want to make sure it’s the right people,” Prohm said. “Those last two scholarships, they’ve got to fit our need and what we want to do foundationally. Our four pillars we really emphasize now are reject passivity; accept responsibility; lead courageously; and invest eternally.”