Iowa sophomore basketball player Keegan Murray is entering the NBA draft

Iowa sophomore Keegan Murray will enter the 2022 NBA draft.

«I am forever grateful that Coach [Fran] McCaffery gave me the opportunity to live out my dream,» Murray told ESPN on Tuesday. «Iowa will always be my home and I'm forever grateful to be part of Hawkeye Nation.»

Murray, the No. 5 prospect in the ESPN 100, was named a consensus first-team All-American after averaging 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 32 minutes per game. He led Iowa to a Big Ten tournament championship, being named Most Outstanding Player after scoring a record 103 points in four games.

He is currently a finalist for some of the most prestigious postseason awards in college basketball, including the Wooden, Naismith and Lute Olson awards, all of which are presented annually to the top player in Division I men's basketball.

Murray took a unique trajectory to emerging as a potential top-five pick this June. He graduated from Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with only one Division I scholarship offer from Western Illinois, prompting him to spend a post-graduate year at DME Academy in Florida, along with his twin brother, Kris.

«I went into my first year at Iowa trying to learn,» Keegan Murray said. «I had the national player of the year on our team in Luka Garza, and veterans coming back. My goal was to learn from them and establish what I can do to get minutes and benefit our team, which meant being a hustle guy and really solid defensively. I tried to fill that role as best I could.»

Murray came off the bench as a freshman and averaged 7.2 points in 18 minutes per game. He then exploded into arguably the best player in college basketball as a sophomore, ranking fourth in the country in scoring and first in player efficiency