Kenyon Murray to get expanded Big Ten Network role
Former Iowa basketball player Kenyon Murray will have an expanded role on the Big Ten Network this winter.
Murray will provide color commentary for 10 Iowa home games this coming season after doing seven Iowa games last season for the Big Ten Network.
In addition to working the Nov. 14 season opener against South Dakota State and the game against Illinois-Edwardsville on Nov. 26; Murray also will do the back-to-back games against Northern Iowa and Iowa State on Dec. 7 and Dec. 10, respectively, along with six Big Ten games.
“I was hoping that I’d get a few more games this year, and, obviously, having 10 Iowa home games, you’re covering just about the whole home schedule,” said Murray, who lives in Cedar Rapids with his wife Michelle and their three children. “I’m excited about that. I’m excited about the team and where they’re going now with a different coach and a different style.”
The season opener against South Dakota State will mark the beginning of the Fran McCaffery coaching era at Iowa.
McCaffery takes over an Iowa program that is coming off three consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the 1930s.
He also takes over at a time when experts consider the Big Ten to be loaded with quality teams.
“I’m excited for the league, too, because I think the quality of basketball in the conference is going to be great from top to bottom,” said Murray, who played at Iowa from 1992-96.
Murray is among a number of former Big Ten players that now do color commentary for men’s basketball for the Big Ten Network. He is the only former Iowa men’s basketball player now working for the network.
Former Iowa football player Anthony Herron works as a color commentator for football and also co-hosts a show that is shown each week on the Big Ten Network.
“The biggest thing is having people that attended (Big Ten) universities as analysts,” Murray said. “You get an inside scoop pretty much on what’s going on and they have a better finger on the pulse of the program.”
Murray said he always wants Iowa to do well, but he is careful not to let that affect the way he calls games.
“What the Big Ten expects is just to be fair across the board,” he said. “It’s not a problem to be excited when your school does well. But we’re analyzing the conference and we’re representatives of the conference.
“So when we’re doing those in-conference games it’s very important to be unbiased and just really do a good job of analyzing the game and bringing out things the regular viewer might not see.
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
