Phillip Ray "Red" Murrell (February 23, 1933 – October 31, 2017) was an American basketball player, best known for his college career at Drake University. A 6'4"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

from

Linneus, Missouri Linneus is a small city in Linn County, Missouri, United States. The population was 281 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Linn County. History Linneus was designated county seat in 1839. Originally Linnville, its name was changed to h ...

, Murrell originally committed to the University of Missouri, but left the school early in his freshman year. After a stint in the Army, he went to work for the

Ford Motor Corporation Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobile ...

. Upon being laid off, he returned to college, attending Moberly Area Community College on a basketball scholarship. During the 1954–55 season, Murrell was a second-team NJCAA All-American and led Moberly to the NJCAA national title and was named to the all-tournament team. Following his season at Moberly, Murrell transferred to Drake. In his three varsity seasons, Murrell scored 1,657 points for his career (22.7

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

), leaving as the school's all-time leading scorer – a record that stood until 2010. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals after his junior season, but opted to return to Drake for the 1957–58 season. That year Murrell set another school scoring mark, averaging 26.7 points per game, fifth in the nation. He was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press and was a first-team All- Missouri Valley Conference choice. In his final game, Murrell set the Drake single-game scoring mark with a 51-point outburst against Houston. Following his college career, Murrell was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in the fourth round of the

1958 NBA draft The 1958 NBA draft was the 12th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 22, 1958, before the 1958–59 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

(25th overall). Instead, he signed with the Phillips 66ers of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), where in 1960 he was named an AAU All-American. Murrell was the first player in Drake school history to have his number retired. He has also been named to the

Iowa Sports Hall of Fame The Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, sponsored by the ''Des Moines Register'', honors outstanding athletes and sports contributors. To be eligible, members must have either been born in Iowa or gained prominence while competing for a college or universi ...

and the NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame. Murrell died on October 31, 2017, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from heart disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murrell, Red 1933 births 2017 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Missouri Cincinnati Royals draft picks Drake Bulldogs men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Moberly Greyhounds men's basketball players People from Linn County, Missouri Phillips 66ers players