Matthew Murrell Named to Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – (Release) The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has begun announcing their watch lists for their “Naismith Starting 5” awards for the 2024-25 season, unveiling their top-20 for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year on Tuesday and selecting Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell.
The senior is set to begin his fifth season with the program this year and looks to build upon an already impressive career with the Rebels. Murrell enters the 2024-25 season ranked 16th all-time in school history with 1,444 career points and fifth in three-point field goals made with 218.
Coming off All-SEC Second Team and NABC All-District Second Team honors a year ago, Murrell begins this year with plenty of hype and excitement around himself and the team. Ole Miss, under second-year head coach Chris Beard, has been ranked in both the AP Preseason Poll and Coaches Preseason Poll.
Past winners of the Jerry West Award include D’Angelo Russell, Buddy Hield, Malik Monk, and RJ Barrett.
Murrell is joined on the preseason watch list by last year’s winner RJ Davis of North Carolina, Caleb Love of Arizona, Kam Jones of Marquette, and more of college basketball’s top players.
The top 10 for each award will be announced on February 3, 2025 and fan voting for the awards will open. Winners will be unveiled on April 4.
2024-25 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year – Preseason Top 20
Caleb Love, Arizona
Johnell Davis, Arkansas
Boogie Fland, Arkansas
VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
Caleb Foster, Duke
Kon Knueppel, Duke
Tyson Grant Foster, GCU
LJ Cryer, Houston
Zeke Mayo, Kansas
Kam Jones, Marquette
Jalil Bethea, Miami
RJ Davis, North Carolina
Meechie Johnson, Ohio State
Matthew Murrell, Ole Miss
Fletcher Loyer, Purdue
Kadary Richmond, St. John’s
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
Tre Johnson, Texas
Aidan Mahaney, UConn
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest
(Feature image courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
Adam Brown
Adam Brown joins The Rebel Walk as the Managing Editor after being on the Ole Miss beat as a Sports Editor for over 11 years. He is a lifelong Oxford resident. Brown graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Prior to The Rebel Walk, Brown was the sports editor of HottyToddy.com covering every Ole Miss sport and local high school sports in the community.
