AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men’s basketball program has signed Birmingham native and Mississippi State transfer KeShawn Murphy.
The 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward was one of the Southeastern Conference’s top Sixth Men and among the league’s most improved players. He paced all SEC players with a 60.4 accuracy from the field in conference games this past season. Murphy also ranked in the Top 15 among league leaders in rebounds (8th, 7.4 rpg) and blocks per game (Tied for 15th, 1.12 bpg).
“When you graduate one of the best frontlines in college basketball, you’ve got some work to do,” head coach Bruce Pearl said. “Johni Broome, Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson and Ja’Heim Hudson did a tremendous job for us this year – the best in Auburn Basketball history. I’ve known KeShawn Murphy since he was a ninth grader and watched him develop in high school and continue to improve at Mississippi State. He is one of the most efficient players in our league. He impacts the game on both the offensive and defensive ends. I am really excited about the prospect of continuing to develop another big man in the lines of Chuma Okeke, JT Thor, Jabari Smith, Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome. KeShawn is a great young man from a wonderfully supportive family.”
Murphy improved on his scoring each year with the Bulldogs and nearly quadrupled his mark from last season to this season: 3.3 ppg (2022-23), 4.7 ppg (2023-24) and 11.7 ppg (2024-25). He also made a massive jump in rebounding each year and more than doubled his mark from last season to this season: 1.7 rpg in 2022-23, 3.1 rpg in 2023-24 and 7.4 rpg in 2024-25.
This past season, he turned in 10+ points in six-straight games (01/25-02/15) and in 14 of his last 18 outings. Murphy dialed up 13.4 ppg (241 points) and 7.3 rpg (131 rebounds) during the 18-game run.
He was one of five SEC players with at least 20 games of 10+ points off the bench in 2024-25 and secured 14 of those 20 outings against league squads. Murphy recorded a career-high 20 points against No. 18-ranked Pitt in the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 4, 2024.
Prior to Mississippi State, he prepped under head coach Denton Johnson at Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Murphy was rated the No. 86 overall prospect in ESPN’s Class of 2021.