‘The Murray Meter’--He’s Off the Charts! : Glendora Cage Flash Averages 43.3 Points a Game and 14 Rebounds

In the Glendora High School gymnasium, there is a large banner called “The Murray Meter” unfurled across the bleachers and updated throughout the boys basketball games to help fans keep track of star forward Tracy Murray’s statistics.

This season the meter has been running off the scale.

Seventeen games into his senior season, the 6-8, 220-pound Murray has been producing statistics that are--in a word--remarkable.

How else can you describe a player who entered the week averaging 43.3 points and 14 rebounds? The 17-year-old Murray has scored 50 points or more four times, including a season-high 58 against El Camino of Oceanside and 40 or more in six other games.

“I’ve coached 15 years and I have not seen another player with the ability to score like Tracy,” Glendora Coach Mike LeDuc said. “I’ve talked to other people--people whom I respect--and some think he’s the best offensive player they’ve ever seen in high school.”

At his current pace, Murray is in a position to challenge the Southern Section single-season scoring record of 43.4 points set by Greg Goorjian of Crescenta Valley in 1977-78.

Not to mention the career marks he is approaching. With 2,284 points, Murray started the week in seventh place on the all-time list but figures to pass former prep stars Wayne Carlander of Ocean View (2,314 points) and Don MacLean of Simi Valley (2,343) within a week.

He is within striking distance of former St. Monica star Leon Wood--the all-time Southern Section career leader at 2,693 points--and Goorjian’s single-season 1,259 is also a possibility.

Murray provided an indication of things to come with exceptional seasons as a sophomore and junior. A two-time All-San Gabriel Valley and CIF All-Southern Section selection, Murray averaged 23.4 points and 10.4 rebounds as a sophomore and 31.3 points and 11 rebounds as a junior.

Before this season, Coach LeDuc said he expected Murray to be improved.

“It hasn’t surprised me that he is capable of that,” LeDuc said. “It surprises me in the sense that every team we’re playing is trying to stop him and it hasn’t worked.”

The coach said teams have tried just about every defense in hope of stopping Murray, and most have backfired. “Last (week) Don Lugo tried a triangle and two with both guys guarding Tracy, and he still got 49,” LeDuc said.

Murray said he had to adjust to the attention he has received from opponents as a senior.

“It’s been a little difficult but, thanks to my teammates, they know when to get me the ball,” he said. “The more we go on it’s going to force (teams) to change defenses on us.”

LeDuc says there are more important factors that have led to Murray’s brilliant success as a senior.

“I think it’s a combination of maybe two or three things,” he said. “He’s matured a lot and he’s able to handle anything he sees, and he’s got much more of a competitive spirit.

“He’s worked a lot harder in the off-season to improve, and he’s having a good season as a result.”

LeDuc thinks Murray has improved most from his junior year as a ball handler. Murray said he has also improved in other areas. “I think it’s mainly my quickness and using my head a little more because basketball is a thinking game.”

The coach says the credit for any improvement belongs to Murray alone.

“I think it would be very difficult to find any player in the nation who works harder or puts more time into improving,” LeDuc said.

Murray said he improved by playing against many of the top prospects in the nation in basketball camps and tournaments during the summer, including the Nike All-Star Basketball Camp in Princeton, N.J., and the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament.

“I was playing against a lot of quicker people during the summer,” he said. “So I was shooting over a lot of quicker guys.”

That could help account for Murray’s improved scoring. But LeDuc said what separates Murray from most 6-8 players is his ability to shoot from the outside.

“If you look at the list of the top (all-time Southern Section) scorers, most are either outside shooters or inside big men,” LeDuc said. “But I’ve never seen a player who can shoot from anywhere like Tracy. He led the CIF in three-point shots last year.”

Murray established the Southern Section record with 99 three-pointers last season and tied another mark with nine in a game. He has 56 three-pointers this season.

Murray has made 57% of his field-goal attempts and 81% of his free throws--down from 85% last year.

All of which makes it understandable why Murray has been the prime target of college recruiters. Recruited by most of the top programs in the nation, Murray has narrowed his list to Nevada-Las Vegas, UCLA, Louisville, Villanova and New Mexico.

He has taken visits to New Mexico and Louisville but doesn’t expect to decide until close to April 15, the first day high school players can sign letters of intent with NCAA schools.

Murray said the recruiting has been a bit of a distraction, but he hasn’t allowed it to get out of hand.

“It hasn’t really been a problem because (recruiters are) letting me do my thing and hit the books,” he said. “It doesn’t take up too much time.”

With all the points Murray has been producing and the surplus of attention, it would be understandable if he had an attitude to match. But success has not changed the soft-spoken, easygoing Murray.

“I feel I have kept it in check with the help of my parents (Robert and Candy) and my coach,” Murray said. “I feel it hasn’t gone to my head. If things go to your head, you can’t accomplish your goals, team or individual.”

Murray says the team’s success is most important to him.

“The team’s always first. I’d rather win a game than set a record. This is it for me (in high school), so I want it real bad.”

Murray merely has to remind himself how he felt after Glendora lost to Santa Barbara in the 4-A Division quarterfinals last season.

“I just remember the feeling I felt at the end of the game, and I don’t want to feel it again. My uncle told me when you work out over the summer remember the feeling, and I remember the feeling.”

It is a feeling Murray has not had to experience much in his high school career. In the last two seasons, the Tartans have gone 44-2 with losses only to Santa Barbara last season and to Moreno Valley in the Ramona-Riverside Poly Tournament this season. Glendora is 16-1 and ranked No. 2 in the CIF 4-AA Division.

“I’m looking forward to playing college ball because you see these guys like Don MacLean (of UCLA) and Chris Mills (of Kentucky) and what they’re doing, and I just played with them last year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it, but I want to take care of business first”--winning a CIF title.