After a disappointing season for Murray State men's basketball, the program had to hit the portal hard in the off-season. The team finished with an abysmal 12-20 overall record and finished eighth in the MVC with a 9-11 conference record. Then, to get the off-season started, they lost two of their top three scorers to graduation and their top bench scorer and backup center to the transfer portal. They managed to keep starting point guard JaCobi Wood for his senior season, and they return a handful of young players who didn't get a ton of burn last year. That being said, this roster desperately needs two things at the moment: Size and depth. While the Racers haven't landed any big men to fill their void at the five spot, they have officially added two new guards to make up for the three they've lost.
Murray State has officially landed Terence Harcum, a guard from Appalachian State going into his senior season and Kylen Milton, a guard from Arkansas Pine Bluff going into his senior season. Both players had great junior seasons before deciding to enter the transfer portal. Harcum averaged 12 points per game on solid outside shooting splits on an Appalachian State team who nearly made the tournament. Milton put up a fantastic stat line, headlined by 17 points a night on efficient splits. Both of these guys will slot into the Murray State rotation right away; the question is how they will be utilized alongside the team's tenured players. For example, I highly doubt the Racers are wanting to let sophomore Lawrent Rice fall through the cracks again like he did in his freshman campaign. He was a guy who had to sit behind several upperclassmen, but who showed out when he got on the floor at the end of the year. The team is also bringing in top-150 recruit DJ Shine next season. These questions make these acquisitions more complicated than they may seem, so let's look at these two new Murray State Racers and do our best to determine where they'll fit in on next year's roster.
Terence Harcum - 6'3" 190lbs - Combo Guard
12ppg / 1apg / 2.5rpg / .7spg / 37.5 FG% / 35.6 3P% / 80.2 FT%
Both of these players have a certain type of playstyle, which I assume means that's how Steve Prohm and Murray State intend to play this season. Both Harcum and Milton are guards who put a ton of pressure on the rim but can also shoot the three. Harcum penetrates the paint like a bulldozer, lowering his head and using his powerful stature to barrel inside before pulling off crafty finishes. He has a soft touch around the rim, making him hard to stop once he gets there. This combination of power and finesse is something that any team would find difficult to defend, let alone mid-major teams. To make things even more difficult, if opponents give Harcum too much space in preparation for the drive, he can knock down the outside shot at ease. He also has a solid pull-up game to keep defenders on their toes, as he can rise up at any point throughout his powerful drives. This three-level scoring acumen will make him a very valuable player for this Murray State team that at times struggled to impose their will inside last season.
Defensively, Harcum has the build of a solid defender. He is a super strong guard with solid accelerating abilities that should allow him to move alongside opponents. At Appalachian State the players did a lot of funneling, that being allowing their man to make it into the paint, so that big man and elite shot-blocker Justin Abson could deter their shot. A strategy like that won't work for a Murray State team who's center at the moment is 6'7" Nick Ellington. Because of that we didn't see a ton of outstanding defensive highlights from Harcum, but I am of the opinion that he's going to be a solid defender.
We really don't know what Harcum is as a playmaker. He didn't have to shoulder much of the playmaking responsibilities at App State, as he shared the floor with two guys who averaged over three assists each. While he wasn't asked to be a floor general, he seems to be a capable passer who doesn't make bad decisions. He didn't struggle with turnovers, which is really all you can ask for if a guy isn't out there to make plays for others. If he isn't much of a passer it's not that big of a deal, as he will be on the floor with JaCobi Wood, who is a premier floor general. Needless to say, I'm not overly worried about Harcum's ceiling as a playmaker.
Overall, I'm not positive where Harcum slots into this rotation. The Racers found some success last year with having one of their top guards, Brian Moore Jr, coming off the bench to lead the second unit. This upcoming roster will have a similar logjam in the backcourt, and somebody is going to have to play that role. Do I think it will be Harcum or Lawrent Rice? I'm not sure. At this point in time, I think Harcum may be a better pairing alongside Wood, while Rice runs the one in the second unit. I guess we will have to wait for the coaching staff to get a good feel on who plays alongside Wood the best.
Kylen Milton - 6'4" 192lbs - Guard/Wing
17ppg / 2.9apg / 6.6rpg / 1.2spg / 50.5 FG% / 35.1 3P% / 73.7 FT%
As I mentioned, Kylen Milton plays a very similar style to Harcum. He likes to attack the rim while still maintaining his ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. His numbers are more eye catching than Harcum's, but he had much higher usage at a lower-level program at Arkansas Pine Bluff. The most eye-catching stat is actually his rebounding average, as that tells me that Milton is at least somewhat capable of playing on the wing at 6'4". That will be incredibly valuable for Murray State, as you can never have enough wings, but you can definitely have enough guards.
Milton had a stellar junior season at Arkansas Pine Bluff. He was the team's second leading scorer, but I would argue that he was probably their best player. I'm not going to delve too deep into his scoring arsenal, as he has a lot of parallels to Harcum, but just know that he is going to be a capable scorer in the MVC. He shot well from everywhere on the floor, bolstering a field goal percentage of over 50% as a high usage scorer. While he's only 6'4", he has a solid wingspan and is a bonafide athlete. He plays bigger than he is, which explains his impressive rebounding numbers. He's also a solid perimeter defender, as he led his team in steals by a decent margin this past season. Those long arms help him a ton on this end of the floor, and they'll be very important as he matches up against bigger and more powerful wings in the MVC.
My biggest question surrounding Milton is how he will fit into a role where he doesn't always have the ball. He's going to have to get used to being an off-ball scorer. I really hope he can master the backside cut, something that we saw several players from Indiana State do this year in the MVC. That led to them having immense success, and even though it's incredibly simple, it's also incredibly effective at this level. Murray State fans shouldn't expect him to put up 17 points per game this season and should instead expect him to play a complimentary role where he's able to score at an incredibly efficient clip. This will also benefit his playmaking. While he did put up solid assist numbers this year, he also struggled with turnovers. Now he will be asked to be a secondary playmaker on the wing, where he can pick and choose when to put his teammates in positions to score. This should limit his turnovers while still allowing his passing to shine. Finally, his defense is going to have to be top notch if he's going to be playing the three. If he's not able to defend opposing wings he's going to struggle to stay on the floor, as Murray is going to desperately try to avoid another backcourt logjam.
Summary:
My best guess is that both of these players will be in the starting lineup at the beginning of next season. Harcum will be at the two and Milton will be at the three. They will be joined by JaCobi Wood running the point and Nick Ellington at either the four or five depending on if the Racers can land a big man out of the portal. This will strengthen both the starting and second units, as players like Justin Morgan, Alden Applewhite, and Lawrent Rice will cement themselves into the second unit instead of jumping in and out of the starting lineup.
While these additions will surely be for the better, Murray State is still lacking a true five. I do think the team will be better than they were last season, but they still desperately need a big man. This team will not reach their ceiling without a skilled big man, as that may be the most important position in the MVC and in college basketball at the moment. They can't have a power forward running the five for a second season, and I have to assume that the staff realizes this. Expect news sometime soon that the Racers are landing a big man in the portal, likely cementing their finalized roster for the upcoming season.