Brownell, Clemson Basketball Add New General Manager

On April 6, Clemson basketball lost its general manager, Lucas McKay, to the Oklahoma Sooners.

On Wednesday, Clemson basketball filled the vacancy left by McKay with Tyler Murray.

“I can’t wait to welcome Tyler and his family to Clemson. He is a young talent in the business who is a creative thinker and will really excel in this role,” said head coach Brad Brownell.

Murray is an experienced coach who has garnered experience at strong NCAA programs. Prior to Brownell announcing Murray’s hire on Wednesday, Murray was an associate head coach at Samford. In his only year with the program, the Bulldogs went 18-14 and 11-7 in the Southern Conference.

But one of the things about Murray that stuck out to Brownell was his mentor, Lennie Acuff.

“He has worked for one of the best coaches in college basketball in Head Coach Lennie Acuff for the last six seasons at Lipscomb and Samford,” Brownell said. “He’s a really bright guy and an outstanding recruiter who is excited to attack this new challenge as general manager.”

Before transitioning to Samford, Murray worked under Acuff for five years at Lipscomb Academy. Then, the pair moved together to Samford. At both Samford and Lipscomb, Acuff was head coach while Murray filled various support roles, even earning a promotion to associate head coach in his last year at Lipscomb.

With years of guidance from one of the best in the business, Murray is ready to take a new-look Clemson team to new heights.

In the offseason, roster turnaround is pretty common, especially in college. But the level of coaching and staff alterations endured by Clemson basketball already this offseason is atypical. The program is heading in a new direction, and it seems that recruitment is a serious focus.

With Brownell acknowledging Murray’s talents on the recruitment side, Clemson’s new general manager will pair nicely with assistant Chris Harriman, a fellow offseason addition who has a knack for finding and signing elite players.

Murray was originally a basketball player himself, playing Division III at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.

That experience led Murray to the coaching side of basketball, as he found his first assistant coaching gig at Shorter University, a Division II program out of Georgia.

During his six year stint, Murray worked under current Clemson assistant coach Chad Warner to guide the Hawks to two National Championship appearances and one National Championship win in the 2011-12 season. Shorter also finished as the No. 1 team in the country that same year.

Murray moved on afterwards, but not permanently. He spent some time as an assistant at Charleston Southern, before returning to Shorter — this time as the head coach.

His head coaching experience then led Murray to Furman, then on to Lipscomb, then to Samford and now to Clemson.

For Murray, the path has been long and winding. But now, like fate, he is at a program that needs him more than ever.

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