Ja Morant is one of the most electrifying players to ever don the Murray State blue and gold, so it is only fitting that he was celebrated at the annual Racer Hoopalooza event.
Racer Hoopalooza is a tradition for Murray State men’s basketball that sees former players, coaches, support staff, sponsors, and fans get together at the end of the summer to celebrate a past era of Racer basketball.
This year, Hoopalooza not only honored Morant and the two seasons he played at Murray State, but he was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame. Other Hall of Fame members from the 2024 class will be inducted in early 2025. A date has not yet been determined.
Morant said he was excited to be back in “a place I call home” at a media scrum on the first day of his camp held at the CFSB Center the Thursday before his Hall of Fame induction.
“There are a lot of people that have won an NBA game before and a lot of people who have had a triple-double before, but not a lot that get put into the Hall of Fame at their college,” Morant said.
He also said he was “grateful, thankful, and very appreciative” of everything Murray State has helped him accomplish.
This is only the second time a Hall of Fame induction happened at Racer Hoopalooza. Johnathan Stark, Morant’s teammate during the 2017-18 season, was honored in 2023. Morant credited Stark for having his back and helping him along the way at Murray State.
”(Johnathan) was telling Coach that he wanted me to be his point guard,” he said. “Coming from another point guard who had 40 [point games] and all says a lot so you could tell that he believed in me… for both of us to be here and for him to be here to celebrate this moment as well is big time.”
During Morant’s speech at Hoopalooza, he thanked God for blessing everyone to be able to be there to celebrate the occasion, followed by the fans.
Morant thanked everyone for continuing to support him after recent events that saw him miss games with the Grizzlies due to suspensions. “There’s a lot of decisions that each one of you could have made whether to still support me or not, but to see a lot of y’all here means a lot and I really appreciate it,” he said.
Morant thanked his family for having his back through everything in his career, the good and the bad. He gave a shout out to his former teammates for sticking with him and holding him accountable.
Morant also thanked all of the former players who came in to be a part of his special night and emphasized the family connection that the player brotherhood had and made it known what he’d like to see from the current team this season.
”Murray State is a winning program so we want a championship this year.,” he said.
Morant ended his speech by thanking his “Grizzly fam” for attending his ceremony and for all of the things they have done for him on and off the court.
The night ended with a video made in Morant’s honor, showcasing his phenomenal two-year career at Murray State on his way to being the latest Racer to make it to the NBA.
In Morant’s two seasons as a Racer from 2017 to 2019, he broke the all-time career assists mark at Murray State with 532, beating Don Mann’s record from 1989 of 531 assists in 46 fewer games. Morant scored 1,213 career points, which is 4th best among two-year players. Morant averaged 18.7 points per game over his career, which is 12th all-time.
Morant was also the first player since 1983, when assists became an official stat, to average 20 points and 10 assists per game. The team won 56 of 65 games and won the OVC regular season and tournament championships in both years and received automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
Morant was named to the All-OVC team his freshman year and named OVC Player of the Year and be the first consensus All-America selection in school history in his sophomore year before being drafted second overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, the highest any player has been selected in school history. Morant was named NBA Rookie of the Year.
Last year’s Hoopalooza event also honored former head coach Scott Edgar and his teams from 1991 to 1995. Edgar coached other Murray State hall of famers Marcus Brown and Popeye Jones, who also went to the NBA.
This year’s event was the 12th Racer Hoopalooza being held after coach Steve Prohm brought the idea to life in 2013 because he wanted to create a connection between former players and coaches and the passionate Racer fanbase.
