Does Keegan Murray have a twin brother? Looking at Iowa’s forward kinship with Sacramento Kings’ forward
As the 2023 NCAA March Madness tournament begins, basketball fans have noticed that Keegan Murray's twin brother plays for the University of Iowa. The twins were born on Aug. 19, 2000, and are 22 years old. While Keegan is playing for the Sacramento Kings, Kris is in his junior year.
After Keegan Murray made a significant jump during his sophomore year at Iowa, he found himself on the radar of NBA scouts. As the 2022 Karl Malone Award winner and a consensus first-team All-American, the gap left by Keegan Murray was a big one.
Heading into this season, Kris spoke about the challenge – and opportunity – that went along with his brother making the jump to the NBA. In an interview with HawkFanatic at the start of the season, he said:
“It’s about time we went our separate ways. He’s enjoying his time in Sacramento, and I know he loves it over there, and I’m enjoying my time in Iowa City for a year. I’m really excited just to show people what I can do this year.
"Playing with Keegan, though, made the game a lot easier, so that’ll be a little bit different. But we’ve got really good players on this team. I think they’ll help me show my skillset and we’ll have a lot of success this year."
Above, you can view Kris dropping a career-high 30 points earlier this season.
The similarities and differences with Keegan Murray's twin brother
Although it's no secret that both Keegan and Kris Murray look similar, and they both stand 6-foot-8, they have vastly different playstyles. Despite the differences, Kris Murray has proven that he's more than capable of putting up big numbers when need be. Earlier this season, he left fans stunned with a 31-point, 20-rebound game.
“We’re two really different players in my opinion, and I think you’re going to see that a lot," Kris said. "We’re going to do different things. I’m not going to average 23 points like he did. I might average around 15 to 20, but I’ll have four or five assists a game. That’s just where our games are different. And I think you’ll see that a lot this year.
“Keegan and I, we’re pretty individual people. We like our own space.”
According to ESPN's NBA mock draft, Murray is projected to go in the first round of the June 22 draft. Iowa's bid at an NCAA March Madness title will begin on Thursday, when the Hawkeyes (19-13) square off with Auburn (20-12).
The showdown will pit the eighth-seeded Hawkeyes against the ninth-seeded Tigers as Murray looks to lead the team deep into the tournament. This season, he is averaging 34.8 minutes, 20.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Similar to his brother, he saw a jump in his production, going from 9.7 ppg and 4.3 ppg as a sophomore, while earning third-team All-American and first-team Big Ten honors.
With his season winding down, it will be interesting to see how the March Madness tournament impacts his draft stock.