Published: November 10, 2009 12:20 am      

College Scene: Itching to get started

Former Huntsville Hornet ready to begin sophomore season with Bearkats

After having nearly eight months to think about how things went awry in the Southland Conference tournament in Katy, sophomore Drae Murray can hardly wait to get the 2009-10 campaign under way.

With Murray’s contributions off the bench as a freshman, Sam Houston State won the SLC West Division with a 12-4 league record. The Bearkats were seeded third heading into the conference tournament, but fell to Texas-San Antonio, a team SHSU had beaten the nine previous meetings dating back to 2005, in the first round 83-74.

“It left a nasty taste in our mouths, losing in the first round,” said Murray, who led the Huntsville Hornets basketball team to two straight district championships in 2007 and 2008. “We knew we should’ve been in the championship, going up against (No. 1 seed) SFA.

“Basically our guard play in the conference tournament wasn’t as strong as it had been during the season. So this year, our guards are working on getting better and better every day and getting more consistent every day.”

As a freshman, Murray appeared in 30 games, playing a little more than 13 minutes a game and dished out 64 assists. Murray averaged 5.4 points and shot 38.9 percent.

“It was bumpy,” said the former Hornet guard of his performance in his freshman season. “There were a lot of ups and downs. I know I can play in the conference and I know I can play at this level. It’s just that I was trying to adjust.

“Being a freshman kind of played a key role. I wasn’t used to certain situations. I was used to being able to do what I want to do out on the court). I knew the competition rose up at the college level, so it was just adjusting to the college level.”

But in order to improve, the speedy guard who’s listed at 5-10, knew he had to spend plenty of time lifting weights.

“I knew I needed to get stronger, coming to a Division I school out of high school,” Murray said. “This summer, I worked on getting stronger a little bit. I spent some time in the weight room and tried to get my jumper more consistent to help our team.

“I know I got a little bit stronger and I know I learned the game more. I’m a quick learner on the court. I’m going to have to pick my game up to help out Ashton (Mitchell) at the point guard spot.”

Head coach Bob Marlin is already starting to see the effects from the work that Murray put in over the summer.

“He’s worked hard in the weight room and increased his strength, which is helping him get in the lane and letting him finish,” Marlin said on Monday. “It’s also helped him defensively. He’s going against Ashton every day. It makes him better and it makes Ashton better. It’s been a good combination.

“He’s always been a good practice player. He’s got a year of maturity and he knows he’s got to get stronger. He’s put on about 10 pounds. We’re excited about what he can do for our basketball team.”

The Bearkats tip off their regular season on Saturday night against LeTourneau University.

Already, Murray likes what he’s seen in practice and thinks that the pieces are in place for Sam Houston State to take the next step.

“We’re much better I think,” Murray added. “I think we’ve got more scorers and we’re going to be much better on defense. Coach (Marlin) preached about defense after the UTSA game when we got back. When we got into the offseason, all we’ve been doing is defense, defense, defense. In the last scrimmage, we looked very good on defense.

“Our team was pretty good last year, but we were missing a few parts. The new guys that we recruited filled those spots.”

Former Hornets in action

In just the second game of her sophomore season with Blinn, Jaleesa Thomas already seems to be in midseason form after helping the Lady Bucs cruise to a 96-52 victory over Grayson Community College on Saturday. Thomas drilled five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points in the win.

In Saturday’s rivalry game against Southern Methodist, Jared Williams recorded his first career sack with the Rice Owls, which resulted in an 8-yard loss. Williams also chipped in with a tackle. SMU blocked three Rice punts and came away with a 31-28 victory

After falling to Utah Valley in four games last week, Sarah Hazlewood and the Houston Baptist Huskies rebounded with a four-game victory over Prairie View A&M on Monday. Hazlewood finished with three kills. HBU will finish the regular season Friday at Texas-Pan American and then will host the inaugural Great West Conference tournament next week.