Former Grambling State head women’s basketball coach Freddie Murray was named University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff associate head coach Friday.
“I am thrilled to welcome Freddie Murray to our coaching staff,” Head Coach Erica Leak said in a statement. “Murray’s expertise and passion for the game will undoubtedly take our team to new heights. We are excited to have him join our Golden Lions family and look forward to his incredible impact on our players both on and off the court.”
Murray spent last season as an assistant coach at Alabama A&M but spent the eight prior seasons at Grambling. He was hired in 2015 as an assistant but was named interim head coach in 2016, eventually being named the permanent head coach.
In 2017, he led GSU to its first regular season SWAC championship since 2000. The Lady Tigers went on to defeat Ole Miss 78-75 in the Women’s NIT.
GSU won the SWAC tournament the next year and faced No. 2 Baylor in the NCAA Tournament.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Murray coached Shakyla Hill, who became the fourth NCAA Division I women’s basketball player to record a quadruple-double in a game. Hill went on to win SWAC Player of the Year.
Grambling went 39-15 in SWAC play in Murray’s first three seasons, though the success faltered afterward. The Lady Tigers went 31-37 in SWAC play over the next four seasons, after which Murray was fired.
From 2010-15, Murray was an assistant at Florida A&M. The Lady Rattlers went 22-8 in his first season.
Murray began his coaching career in 1999 as a volunteer assistant with the men’s program at his alma mater, Jackson State.