Murray State Only Discovered Ja Morant Because A Coach On A Recruiting Trip Decided To Go For A Snack

By now you’re probably aware that Ja Morant, one of the top players heading into this year’s NBA Draft, was not the most heralded prospect coming out of high school. Though he averaged 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists through his junior and senior years, he wasn’t ranked on any recruiting sites and the only D-I offer he got came from South Carolina.

It wasn’t until Murray State assistant, James Kane, accidentally stumbled upon Morant playing basketball in an auxiliary gym while trying to scout someone else that anyone in the program even knew who he was. The story of how Kane found Morant in that gym was uncovered thanks to an E:60 story about the 19-year-old. It turns out that if Kane had never gotten hungry, he might not have been inspired to go near the auxiliary gym in the first place.

It’s kind of heartwarming to hear that the eventual offer from Murray State was so unexpected for Morant and his family, that his mother asked for clarification that the scholarship he got was indeed for four years.

I’m sure there are some aspects of recruiting that require a certain mindset and keen eye for the sport they’re recruiting for, but the more that these kind of stories come out about unknown prospects, the more I feel like dumb luck is probably a good majority of the job. That being said, it’s at least clear that not everyone was meant to be a recruiter considering how Morant’s own mother thought he’d be a four-year player.