Iowa Basketball Recruiting: Hawkeyes Land Pair of Legacy Commits in Keegan and Kris Murray

A day after getting the second commitment of the class of 2020, the Iowa Hawkeyes are keeping the momentum rolling on the recruiting front. This time, the good news comes in twos as the Hawkeyes are adding a pair of commitments just a day after landing SG Tony Perkins of Indianapolis.

Kris and Keegan Murray were on campus this weekend along with Perkins. Like Perkins, the twin sons of former Hawkeye Kenyon Murray wasted little time jumping at the opportunity to join Fran McCaffery and the Hawkeyes.

The Murrays are identical twins who prepped at Cedar Rapids Prairie. After graduating in 2019 as 6’5” G/Fs, where Keegan averaged 20 (40% from 3) and Kris averaged 18 points per game (35% from 3), the two opted for a year of prep school. They’re currently enrolled at DME Sports Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida.

That extra year seems to have been a very good idea as the two have each grown 3 inches since leaving Prairie and now stand at 6’8”. Keegan is built slightly thicker and is reportedly up to 215 pounds while brother Kris is around 200 pounds.

Both bring an interesting skill set at their new size. While they would have been pretty mediocre shooters and ball-handlers for true shooting guards, at 6’8” they have a very nice combination of outside shooting ability and ability to put the ball on the floor and get into the paint.

That new combination, as well as their ability to guard the SF and PF position at their new height, has started to garner some attention on the recruiting trail.

That new interest hasn’t translated to a lot of new offers, which likely has a portion of the Iowa fanbase worried. The lack of offers is more of a result of the timing of the pair’s growth than much else.

As 6’5” guards, their skill set was likely not worthy of a division 1 scholarship. Now that the same skill set comes in the package of 6’8” post players who can step outside to stretch the defense and get up and down the court while defending their position (think Nicholas Baer), colleges have an interest. The question mark is how those translate against top competition as the growth has largely come after the Murrays’ time in AAU ball where most coaches do their evaluations.

Here’s a look at that skill set from back in March.

The addition of the Murrays takes Iowa’s class of 2020 to four commits. It’s still highly likely Fran takes at least two more in the class given the scholarship flexibility of having both his sons on the team. There is also the possibility Jordan Bohannon plays this year and graduates and the ever-present potential for transfers.

Welcome aboard Kris and Keegan Murray!