Coming home: Former Uniontown star Murray back in Southwestern Pa.
Mya Murray has come home … at least to Southwestern Pa.
The 2020 graduate of Uniontown Area High School is currently working towards her master’s degree in health administration and playing basketball for Robert Morris University.
Murray earned her bachelor of arts degree in biology at Brown University in May, but still had a year of eligibility left because the Ivy League cancelled all sports for the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was Murray’s freshman year.
Murray took the opportunity to play one last year of collegiate basketball, which brought her to Moon Township.
“It is an Ivy League rule, regardless, that you are only allowed four academic years, so I couldn’t stay there to be a grad student,” Murray said. “I wasn’t going to take my fifth year. I was just ready to be done. (Robert Morris assistant coach) Eddie Benton, who was the one that recruited me to Brown, and then when he got the job here, he called me on a rare Saturday morning. It is close to home and I get to pursue my masters.”
Murray plans on this being her last season of competitive basketball, as she described herself as a “grandma.”
“I think I will be done playing after this season,” Murray said. “I am getting old and my body hurts.”
Despite only being able to play one season for the Colonials, Murray has earned the trust of her coaches and teammates, as she was named one of the captains for first-year head coach Chandler McCabe.
McCabe has taken a liking to Murray, and considers her a key piece in Robert Morris’ success.
“Mya is a special person,” McCabe said. “The team gravitates towards her. I tell her, ‘I would hate to be her everyday’ because her energy is exactly what the team exudes. If she’s up, we’re up, if she’s down, we’re down, and it’s hard to really have that on your back every single day.
“She has now pushed through on those days where she might be tired or low energy. I call her, ‘old lady.’ She pushes through just because she knows what’s best for the team. She is just an incredible and brilliant young woman off the floor.”
Murray has not only attracted the attention of her coach, but teammate and senior Simone Morris, who lauded Murray following the Colonials’ 69-49 victory over Mercyhurst on Dec. 14.
“Like Coach said, Mya is a very special person,” Morris said. “She’s very positive, and she just gets us going. She has that voice that when she says something, we know we have to listen. She lights that fire under our butt before Coach does.”
In the game against the Lakers, Murray was limited to nine minutes due to foul trouble, but she made an impact with a block on a three-point shot from Mercyhurst’s Bailey Kuhns, who was giving Robert Morris fits in the first quarter. Murray had five rebounds and scored three points on a second-quarter field goal that she muscled through the Lakers’ defense and put off the glass and was 1 of 2 at the foul line.
“When we were scouting them, we knew that she (Kuhns) could hit the three, and she did hit some, so I knew that it was a low shot clock, now or never, so I just went for it,” Murray said. “I don’t think she attempted another three the rest of the game after that. It really helped us. I know I didn’t play much in this game because of the fouls, but I trust (post players) Naomi (Barnwell) and (Danielle Vuletich). We all have our different strengths, and it was a great team win today.”
Murray leads the team in rebounds with 4.9 per game. She also has six blocks and is averaging six points per contest. Murray is shooting 82 percent from the foul line.
In high school, Murray was counted on to do much more scoring, which changed at Brown, but she can still put the ball in the basket when her team needs some offense.
“I’m used to playing a facilitator role,” Murray said. “When our guards aren’t shooting well in some games, I have to step up and take more shots. In one game, I had 11 attempts. I don’t remember the last time I took 11 attempts. It was probably in high school. It is just feeding off what the team needs, and just helping out any way I can.”
The trip from Uniontown to the Robert Morris campus is much shorter, and cheaper, than heading to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, for Murray’s family and friends, as they have attended all the home games, and even some on the road.
“I am really blessed to be back at home and have my family come to every home game,” Murray said. “My mom comes to every home game, and that means the world to me. She would come a couple of times a year when I was at Brown.”
Murray has shown her business savvy, as her merchandise is on sale as part of an NIL deal.
“It is definitely something new,” Murray said. “I didn’t have that at Brown, so I am still learning about it, but it is just cool that my friends and family can get personalized merchandise from me and I kind of benefit from it.”