HOYA SAXA: Former LSU SG Brandon Murray to Transfer to Georgetown

Ewing and Nickelberry add some talent to the roster

The rebuild of the Georgetown Hoyas is beginning and it is led by a 6’5” SG/F from Baltimore, via LSU and IMG Academy, Brandon Murray, who will be joining Patrick Ewing and Kevin Nickelberry on the Hilltop.

Many Georgetown fans promised they wouldn’t get too excited this offseason before any official news came out, but an addition of Murray has the Hoya faithful letting their guard down a little in optimistic anticipation. This is a game changer and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Murray is transferring from LSU, where he was recruited by Kevin Nickelberry. Over this past weekend, Murray visited three schools—Georgetown, Tennessee, and Illinois—with the intention of announcing his decision the following Monday at 9PM (moved up to 3PM).

Georgetown has recruiting Murray at three different stages of his career—out of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute as a high school player, out of IMG Academy during his post-graduate year, and now as a Freshman transfer from LSU. The third time is the charm!

The current 2022-23 roster is expected to look like this:

• 5 Timothy Ighoefe 7-0 250 C Sr. Lagos, Nigeria / NBA Academy Africa
• 31 Wayne Bristol Jr. 6-6 205 G Sr. Upper Marlboro, Md. / St. Thomas More School (Conn.) Howard
• 32 Malcolm Wilson 7-0 205 C Sr. Columbia, S.C. / Ridge View
• 2 Dante Harris 6-0 170 G Jr. Washington, D.C. / Lakeway Christian Academy [Tenn.]
• 23 Collin Holloway 6-6 220 F Jr. Baton Rouge, La. / Port Allen
• 24 Kobe Clark 6-6 180 F Jr. St. Louis, Mo. / Vashon
• 0 Aminu Mohammed 6-5 210 G So. Temple Hills, Md. / Greenwood Laboratory School [Mo.]
• 3 Tyler Beard 6-2 180 G So. Chicago, Ill. / Hargrave Academy [Va.]
• 4 Jalin Billingsley 6-8 225 F So. Cleveland, Ohio / Lutheran East
• 12 Jordan Riley 6-4 195 G So. Brentwood, N.Y. / Brentwood
• 21 Ryan Mutombo 7-2 252 C So. Atlanta, Ga. / The Lovett School
• Brandon Murray 6-5 214 F Baltimore, Md. / IMG Academy
• Incoming freshman Denver Anglin 6-2 G from New Jersey
• Incoming freshman D’Ante Bass 6-7 F from Savannah, Georgia
• 10 Chuma Azinge 6-3 183 G Sr. San Marino, Calif. (walk-on)
• 55 Victor Muresan 6-10 190 F Jr. Potomac, Md. (walk-on)

Since the addition of Kevin Nickelberry to the Georgetown Hoyas coaching staff, there has been hope that an infusion of talent could be on its way. The names of a couple former Louisiana State players in the transfer portal have been frequently uttered in college hoops circles as potentially joining Georgetown, including Murray. Georgetown fans would readily welcome any LSU transfers or decommits, any of which could very well help turn the tide for Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas heading into next season.

Isaac Trotter of 247 Sports took a look at Brandon Murray’s transfer options, saying:

LSU transfer guard Brandon Murray is one of the top free agents in the transfer portal. Murray, a former top-100 prospect in the Class of 2021, started 32 of 33 games at LSU as a freshman. Murray averaged 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists for the Tigers.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard shot 33% from 3-point range for LSU. He made 40 3-pointers in 33 games. Murray also shot 48% from the floor on 2s and 68% at the charity stripe. Murray was deadly on top-of-the-key treys (45%), and he also shot 72% at the rim last year. Murray obviously is a talented offensive player, but he also profiles as an elite perimeter defender. Even though he was just a freshman, Murray hounded opposing SEC ball-handlers all year long with the ability to make game-changing plays above the rim and in the passing lane.

The Athletic called Murray “a clear high-major wing, and potential NBA player down the road,” as well as “a terrific, ready-made two-way teenager at the wing position” who had “about as good a freshman season as could have been expected, averaging 10 points and saving his best for conference play, averaging 11 points and shooting 49 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3.” Defensively, the Athletic touted that “he was pretty good [] switching within LSU’s scheme across the perimeter positions.”

Welcome, Brandon. HOYA SAXA!

UPDATE: It’s official per Twitter and Instagram.

UPDATE 2: Officially official?