In a surprising revelation, Dejounte Murray announced last night that he would be deciding his college fate on Tuesday evening. I say surprising somewhat tongue-in-cheek because there are really no surprises in the recruiting world but this is pretty darn close. Murray is at an interesting point in his recruitment in that a lot of his interest is confined to the west coast. The common thought was that once he hit the July open period, he would really start to get national interest - much like Gonzaga 2014 commit Josh Perkins. Here is Murray making his intentions clear:
At 5PM Tomorrow I Will Be Announcing My Final College Decision!
— Dejounte Murray (@GODS_GIFT2015) June 3, 2014
Murray has a who's who list of offers from the west coast which includes Gonzaga, Washington, Oregon, Cal, Arizona, and many others. The recent thinking is that it will likely come down to one of the Pacific Northwest schools, with Washington being the clear leader but crazier things have happened.
In a recent interview with Josh Gershon of Scout.com, Murray had this to say about his recruitment:
There are five schools showing Murray the most recruiting attention right now.
"I have about eight offers and a lot of interest," he said. "Gonzaga, Washington, California, Oregon and Arizona are all coming at me hard but I'm just enjoying the process. I'm not close to anything."
Murray broke down what he likes about a few of the schools recruiting him the hardest.
Washington: "I love it. It's my hometown, there are a lot of local players - Terrence Ross, Tony Wroten, Brandon Roy, Will Conroy - that came through there. It's a good program."
Gonzaga: "I like how Mark Few runs his offense, he lets his players go and makes sure all the players defend and rebound. I like him a lot."
This quote was from an interview done about a month ago. At that point, Murray was obviously not close to making a decision which is why this qualifies as such a surprise. Historically, I would say that this type of quick change of heart means that he is going to go with the hometown program. Murray obviously has a very close connection with the Washington program so they have to be the clear leader.
If you had asked me prior to yesterday evening who I thought Gonzaga head coach Mark Few would prioritize this offseason, it would have been Murray. He fits the mold of what Gonzaga needs so badly as he is a pure scoring wing that is wiry and can get into the lane. If he commits elsewhere, the Zags will definitely turn up the heat on guys like Stephen Thompson Jr. and maybe Nate Grimes. There is an abundant amount of talent at the wing spot in 2015 but it is definitely an area where the Zags need to capitalize.
We'll update this story throughout the day but keep those fingers crossed that Murray spurns his hometown squad and selects the Zags.