Steven Pearl Provides Injury Update on Auburn Center KeShawn Murphy

The Auburn Tigers are just under two weeks out from the 2025-26 season opener against Bethune-Cookman, and they just received extremely positive injury news regarding one of Steven Pearl’s most important players.

Auburn center KeShawn Murphy went down with a scary lower-body in last week’s first exhibition game against Oklahoma State, where he slipped due to a wet spot on the floor when trying to help Sebastian-Williams Adams up with under five minutes remaining in the game.

Ke’Shawn just took a pretty nasty fall in the preseason game for Auburn. pic.twitter.com/sBJOsuE3yp
— Old Row MSU (@OldRowMSU) October 16, 2025

He was helped off the court by two Auburn medical staffers and wasn’t able to return, but Murphy didn’t seem to require any additional serious medical attention after applying a brace to his knee on the bench.

Steven Pearl announced on Tuesday that team officials believe Murphy suffered a minor hip-flexor strain and a minor knee MCL sprain, which “could’ve been a whole lot worse.”

“Murph is good. He has been getting treatment ever since he obviously got back from the game,” Pearl said. “I think he slipped on a wet spot when he was trying to help Sebastian up… The knee is better, it’s just sore.”

Although the injury is unfortunate, Pearl and company are grateful it isn’t any more severe. Pearl said Murphy is limited in practice but could return earlier than originally expected.

“The hip-flexor is more what we’re looking into right now because when Sebastian landed on him, you know, that’s a lot of impact on that part of the body,” Pearl said. “Yesterday, he stretched, got shots up, he’ll do more of a basketball workout today and some light practice today. But, just still trying to progress him back slowly.”

Murphy has battled knee issues in the offseason, but Pearl believes that the rehab and obstacles he overcame in the summer actually helped him persevere through another injury.

“It could’ve been a whole lot worse. Murph has done an unbelievable job in the offseason – and God love him, he’s had the injury bug lately, but he’s been going at his rehab so hard, that the two times he’s actually tweaked it in the last two months, I think they could’ve been a lot worse if he hadn’t been putting in so much treatment with Clark (Pearson) and Coach [Damon Davis],” Pearl said.

“I think it saved him from something that could’ve been more serious. I think he’ll practice a little bit today, but we’re going to slowly progress him back because we don’t play again until next Thursday.”

The Mississippi State transfer played 21 minutes last Wednesday, totaling five points, three rebounds, and three assists against the Cowboys. Murphy was expected to help fill the shoes of former Tigers Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell when Auburn got him out of the portal, as he averaged 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game off the bench in Starkville in 2024-25.

Auburn will look to KeShawn Murphy for a considerable amount of the Tigers' frontcourt production in 2025-26. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Tigers will undoubtedly look to Murphy this season to perform well down low for a frontcourt that lost all of its production from last season. Broome, Cardwell, and Chaney Johnson have all graduated, meaning Murphy holds a large responsibility to continue the recent trend of dominant transfer big men on the Plains.

Auburn will travel to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Memphis for another exhibition matchup next Thursday, Oct. 30, before officially tipping off the season against Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 3 at Neville Arena.