By Andy Lohman



It shouldn't come as a surprise that senior guard Jahmal McMurray drained the first shot he took in an SMU uniform.

At every stop in his basketball journey, from Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kan., to a year of prep school at Sunrise Christian Prep in Wichita, Kan., to starting his collegiate career at USF, to announcing his arrival at SMU with a three-pointer in the first half of a blowout win over Boise State, McMurray has always been one thing: a scorer.

Standing at six feet tall, relatively small for a Division I basketball player, McMurray doesn't have the look of a volume scorer, but he had the most points per game in 2017-18 of any Mustang returner.

What he lacks in size, McMurray makes up for in quickness. Darting around bigger defenders, that quickness creates shot opportunities, which he knocks down consistently. He shot at a 40.8 percent clip from three-point range in 2017-18 and his 62 treys were the second most on the team, trailing only Ben Emelogu's 63 in 11 fewer games.

McMurray can score in a lot of different ways. In addition to a clean jump shot, he can hit floaters, shoot from mid-range, and drive to the basket. That versatility adds another layer to his game that makes him hard to guard.

"I've always told myself you have to be able to do everything on the court," McMurray said. "If you prepare yourself in the beginning to run into all these different scenarios, then it can never boggle your mind when it happens."

In terms of positions, McMurray can play as either a point or a shooting guard.

"Growing up, I played more of the 2 [shooting guard position] in high school and AAU because I can shoot," McMurray said. "Then when I went to prep school in Wichita is when I really defined the point guard position and started really learning how to become a point guard."

McMurray's guard skills will add to the depth Head Coach Tim Jankovich has at the point guard position with junior Jimmy Whitt and grad transfer Nat Dixon.

After averaging 20.3 points in three games at USF during the fall of 2016, McMurray felt like he needed a change and transferred out. After a semester of junior college in the spring of 2017 without basketball, he joined SMU that summer. Due to NCAA transfer rules, the guard had to sit out for two semesters, pushing his debut at Moody Coliseum to December 2017. It was a tortuous wait for McMurray.

"I was itching to get back, I couldn't wait," McMurray said. "It was on my mind every day. I could never not think about it."

Now that McMurray is on the Hilltop, he feels at home.

"I felt like SMU was the place for me to grow and become a better basketball player on and off the court," McMurray said. "It's just a better fit in all areas of my life."

Even though he only has 22 games in an SMU uniform under his belt, he's one of the more experienced players on the roster. He embraces his leadership role on this young team.

"My role on this team is to lead," McMurray said. "Lead on and off the court. Lead by example and lead verbally. That's one thing that I do need to work on is being more vocal and speaking up. I do pretty well at my actions showing leadership. But I gotta do well at directing people and putting people in the right positions."

McMurray may pour in the points, but he knows success this season hinges on a strong team game.

"It's really all about winning games and being unselfish and getting everybody involved," McMurray said. "If that happens right there, then that's going to take us a long way."