NCAA Basketball: 10 best transfers from the 2017-18 season

JR DeSean Murray – Auburn Tigers

2017-18 stats: 10.1 ppg 6.7 rpg 1.7 apg

If everything went the way it was supposed to, Murray wouldn’t have played too much this season. Not because of him per say, but Auburn had NBA caliber frontcourt players that were supposed to play. But both were sidelined due to the FBI saga, leaving the 6’5 forward having to bang down low with much bigger SEC players.

Two years ago, the junior averaged 20.2 ppg and 7.4 rpg at Presbyterian. But we’ve seen time and time again that players who put up big numbers in small leagues fail to produce once they get to the big boys. That was the concern with Murray, going from the Big South to the SEC.

Despite the concerns, Murray had a great year overall. His scoring took a dip in conference play, but that had more to do with other Tigers stepping up. He was a solid rebounder despite being undersized, and defensively he was much better than expected.

His place on this list was in part of not only the overall team success but Murray producing when the frontcourt was decimated throughout the season. He has another season to go, and regardless of who comes in, Murray has more than earned playing time for 2018-19.