Brock’s Ken Murray inducted into St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame

Murray on the court as head coach of the Brock Badgers Men's Basketball team.

Murray was at home on the court as head coach of the Brock Badgers men's basketball team.

On May 3, former Brock men’s basketball coach and player Ken Murray was inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame as an athlete and a builder.

“Ken has been a great supporter of mine both on and off the court from a very young age, which I greatly appreciate,” said Brock interim men’s basketball head coach Brad Rootes. “Congratulations to him tonight on his Hall of Fame Induction.”

At Brock, Murray made a name for himself both as a player and a coach.

Recruited from the United States, Murray came north of the border and attended Brock in 1972.

For five seasons, he was a standout player. He was named the team’s most valuable player all five years, a four-time OUAA all-star and Brock Male Athlete of the Year in 1974-75. In 1978, his No. 50 was officially retired. He and hockey player Dave Burt became the first Brock athletes to have their numbers retired.

Murray was inducted into the Brock Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 and Brock Basketball Hall of Fame in its inaugural year in 2009.

Murray playing for the Brock Badgers in the 70s.

Murray plays for the Badgers in the 70s.

Murray holds all-time firsts in five categories in the Brock record books, including career scoring average (24.1 PPG), career rebounding average (10.8 RPG), career field goals made (1251) single season scoring average (31.3 PPG – 1976-77) and single season rebounding average (17.1 RPG – 1976-77). He also ranks third all-time in both career points with 2,767 and career rebounds with 1,237.

“As a player, he was a scoring and rebounding machine,” Rootes said. “The fact that he is still so high in the record books today is a testament to that.”

During his 20 seasons as head coach, Murray led the Badgers to their first-ever Canadian championship in 1992, then to another national crown in 2008.

At 521 wins, he has the most victories of any coach in Brock history, and he was twice named Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Coach of the Year. He is also a two-time St. Catharines Sportsman of the Year recipient and received the Brock Alumni Award “Thirty from the Past 30” in 2007.

“As a coach, he accomplished everything you could think of in university basketball and his record as well as his personal accolades are very well deserving of Hall of Fame status,” Rootes said.


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