Mississippi State forward KeShawn Murphy withdraws from NCAA transfer portal

The good news keeps rolling in for Mississippi State men’s basketball on Saturday. Shortly after news broke that Boston College transfer guard Claudell Harris had committed to playing for the Bulldogs and Chris Jans next season, one of their own elected to withdraw their name from the NCAA transfer portal.

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Bulldogs forward Keshawn Murphy will be back in Starkville, MS, for the 2024-25 campaign.

Murphy redshirted in his freshman season after dealing with various injuries in his first year with Mississippi State. He appeared in 19 games, all off the bench, for the Bulldogs in his second year, where he averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. Highlights included a career-high three blocks versus Omaha, followed by a career-high three steals in the following game against Mississippi Valley State. He also recorded a season-high 11 points against No. 8 Alabama and 10 points versus Jackson State.

Last season for the Bulldogs, Murphy appeared in 21 games, averaging 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds a game off the bench. He bumped up his field goal percentage to 45.9% in a season when his three-point percentage dropped to 17.9%. Notably, he scored in double figures in all but one of the games he played 20+ minutes, headlined by a career-high 18 points against North Texas.

Harris commits to Mississippi State

Former Boston College guard Claudell Harris has found his new home after recently entering the transfer portal. According to Jeff Borzello, Harris has committed to playing for the Mississippi State Bulldogs next season.

Harris entered the NCAA Transfer Portal just over two weeks ago, leaving the Golden Eagles following a season where he averaged 13.7 points and shot 37% from three-point range this year. He began his career at Charleston State, and he will sign with YM APAA Sports as his representative agency.

In 2022-2023, Harris averaged 33.3% from deep at Charleston Southern and he bumped that average up a bit this year. A pretty solid all-around player, he averaged 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists this year for Boston College. Harris is just one of the latest Eagles to enter the transfer portal. Jaeden Zackery entered the portal on April 4th.

On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this article