‘No regrets’: Former Wichita State star Toure’ Murry retires from pro basketball career
Following a 10-year professional career that included a two-year stint in the NBA, former Wichita State basketball star Toure’ Murry is retiring, he told The Eagle.
Murry, 32, most notably played in the NBA for the New York Knicks during the 2013-14 season. Counting short stays with the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, the 6-foot-5 guard scored 146 career points in 56 NBA games from 2013-15.
He then transitioned to a successful European career, which featured stops in Turkey, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Kuwait and Ukraine. Murry is going out on top after winning a league championship this summer with Astros de Jalisco in Mexico.
“I have no regrets,” Murry told The Eagle. “I was always thinking about my future in my career and that’s why I went so hard. I gave everything that I had, so I have nothing more to give, nothing more to prove to myself or to anyone else. I’m very proud of my career and that’s why I’m able to move forward.”
While Murry achieved life-long goals of reaching the NBA and winning championships overseas, he said his four years at Wichita State from 2008-12 remain his favorite basketball memories.
He was a member of former WSU coach Gregg Marshall’s first recruiting class and played a key role in the Shockers’ return to prosperity, as he helped lead WSU to the 2011 NIT championship and then a Missouri Valley Conference regular season title and NCAA Tournament bid in 2012.
Murry ranks 12th in program history in career scoring (1,539), second in assists (430), first in games started (130) and first in consecutive games played (139). He was a second team all-conference choice as a junior and made two MVC All-Defensive teams, while his game-winners against Evansville and Missouri State as a freshman instantly made him a fan favorite.
“Wichita is a very special place to me and I feel like Wichita State put me on track to where my life was headed,” Murry said. “I was a young kid, 18 years old, and starting as a freshman and that really put me on a platform to showcase my skills and show that I had an ability to play at a high level.
“The fans, the memories from winning the championships, the bus rides, the practices with the guys at Wichita State, those are the times I still remember the most when I think about my basketball career.”
Murry’s harrowing escape from Ukraine during the Russian invasion earlier this spring is when he began seriously considering retirement.
The life-and-death situation put his basketball career in perspective with a 1-year-old son and family back home in Houston.
“I’m no longer fulfilled by the game anymore and I think heading in another direction, I can take that same competitiveness into something else,” Murry said. “I think right now is perfect timing because I didn’t want to spend another season away from my family.”
Don’t expect Murry to take much time away from basketball, however. The Houston native said his next ambition is to become a coach, whether that’s at the college or professional level.
“The last few years of my professional career, I realized I was becoming the old guy of the team and I was doing a lot of teaching and helping out the young guys,” Murry said. “They really respected me and my journey and my expertise of playing the game at a high level and knowing how to play basketball. I knew I wanted to stay a part of the game somehow and I feel like coaching is the best way to do that.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
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