Traynor signs with Murray State
MBB: The 6'9 senior is the fifth player Ryan Miller has signed out of the transfer portal
JJ Traynor, a 6’8 forward from Bardstown, Kentucky has signed to play his final year of college basketball at Murray State.
Traynor signed with Louisville out of high school, and spent four years with the Cardinals. After missing most of the 2023-24 season with a shoulder injury, Traynor transferred to DePaul this past year, where he averaged 5.6 points while starting ten of 32 games for the Blue Demons.
"We're very excited to add a player like JJ to our team," Murray State Head Coach Ryan Miller said in a statement. "He brings a tremendous amount of experience and athleticism to the roster and adds significant length."
The Louisville Courier-Journal named Traynor to their 2020 First Team All-State team, and he was named the MaxPreps Kentucky Player of the Year that same year. Coming out of high school, Traynor was ranked #79 nationally by 247Sports.com, #88 by Rivals.com and #96 in the ESPN100. He was the #14 rated power forward in the nation in the 247Sports composite rankings and was the only Kentucky basketball player ranked among the nation’s top 100 players.
Traynor, who has a 7’2 wing span, averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds, both career highs, before he was hurt during the 2023-24 season at Louisville.
For his career, Traynor has shot 50.2% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range. Here are some highlights from this past season at DePaul:
With Traynor’s signing, Murray State now has five players who are set to be on next year’s roster playing for the Racers:
Ben Shtolzberg (6’4 senior guard/3.8 PPG last year at UC Santa Barbara)
KJ Tenner (6’0 sophomore guard/2.4 PPG last year at West Virginia)
Mason Miller (6’9 senior guard/1.1 PPG last year at Creighton)
Fredrick King (6’9 senior forward/2.7 PPG last year at Creighton)
JJ Traynor (6’9 senior forward/5.6 PPG last year at DePaul)
Here are the six players who could return to the Racers next year, but have yet to make anything publicly official regarding their future:
Junior guard Patrick Chew
Senior forward Nick Ellington (has entered the transfer portal, but isn’t ruling out returning to Murray State)
Senior forward KyeRon Lindsay (has entered the transfer portal, but Murray State appears interested in bringing him back)
Senior guard Justin Morgan
Incoming freshman guard Tristian Ford
Incoming freshman guard Kaden Rickard