Cowbell Corner

Former Mississippi State Basketball Player Picks Auburn

KeShawn Murphy, one of the keys to the 2024-2025 men's basketball team is making the move to a conference rival.

Pete Fiutak

Jan 14, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs forward KeShawn Murphy (3) is pressured by Auburn Tigers forward Chaney Johnson (31) during the first half at Neville Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images
Jan 14, 2025; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs forward KeShawn Murphy (3) is pressured by Auburn Tigers forward Chaney Johnson (31) during the first half at Neville Arena. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images / John Reed-Imagn Images
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The transfer portal keeps on rolling.

Mississippi State lost a slew of men's basketball players through the transfer portal - and is getting a few of its own - and now there's salt rubbed in the wound.

Not only is tough guy forward KeShawn Murphy leaving the Bulldogs, he's going to SEC rival Auburn.

In football you can't go from one SEC school to another without sitting a year. That's not the case in basketball, as Murphy heads east to become a key part of a Final Four program that has to replace a few big parts of its own.

Murphy, an Alabama native, played three seasons for Mississippi State, but it wasn't until last year when he popped through averaging clsoe to 12 points per game with 7.4 rebounds.

Physical, he's a banger on the boards with his 6-10 size, and an occasional tone-setter with his power on the offensive glass for second chance shots. That's exactly what Auburn needs.

The Tigers are losing star Johni Broome - who averaged close to 19 points and 11 rebounds per game - and 6-11 powerhouse Dylan Cardwell from the front. There's a gaping hole to fill, and that's where Murphy comes in.

Against Auburn, Murphy and Mississppi State were 0-4. He scored 11 points with eight rebounds in a blowout loss in January, and was stuffed in the other two games in March scoring just two points with four rebounds in the two games.

Mississippi State is bringing in Quincy Ballard, a 6-11, 240-pound rebounding machine from Wichita State, but it still needs more big men.

They're coming.

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Pete Fiutak
PETE FIUTAK

Notre Dame, Kansas, Illinois, and Mississippi State On SI. Publisher of CollegeFootballNews.com since 1998, writing more words about college football than any human ever. Worked for FOX Sports, USA TODAY, The Sporting News, and CBS Sports. America’s radio guest on ESPN, FOX, VSiN and several major market stations. Co-hosted shows on NFL Network, Big Ten Network, FOX Sports Radio, and for eight years was a talking head for Campus Insiders - now Stadium - including as an in-stadium co-host for the first four CFP National Championships. Heisman voter, FWAA Award winner, Doak Walker Award advisory board. Ordered by Keith Jackson to “call me Keith.” BlueSky @petefiutak.bsky.social and X @PeteFiutak

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