Tishomingo, Okla. (March 1, 2022) – Murray State College Men’s Basketball Head Coach Kevin O’Connor was named the NJCAA Division I Region II Coach of the Year for the 2021-2022 season. O’Connor and his Aggies had 20 wins and only nine losses overall and went 11-and-five in regional play during the 2021-2022 regular season.
This season, O’Connor, who has coached the Aggies since the summer of 2017, led a young Murray team to the second-best record in the region and to a second seed in the upcoming Region II tournament. Along with O’Connor being announced as Coach of the Year, Aggie freshman Lavell Brodnex was named to the second-team All-Region II team and All-Freshman Team and Jaxon Ingram was selected to the third-team All-Region team. This season marks the fourth straight year the Aggies have had a player named to the All-Region II teams.
"Credit to our players, it's a really young group," said O'Connor. "Not many guys have college experience coming into this year, so they've just bought in. They've trusted each other, trusted the coaching staff and they play really hard. That's really the key to it."
O’Connor’s selection as Coach of the Year marks the second time in three years, he has received this honor after leading the Aggies to a 25-6 season, a second-place finish in NJCAA Region II play, and an NJCAA Region II Tournament championship in 2019-20. That season, Murray State also earned a Top 10 national ranking for the first time in school history and qualified for the NJCAA National Championship Tournament before the COVID-19 Pandemic ended the season.
“Coach O’Connor and his players continue to exceed expectations placed on them after multiple successful seasons the past several years,” Dr. Tim Faltyn, President of Murray State College said. “I have no doubt the team will continue to amazing things in the postseason and build on the reputation Murray State Athletics has established.”
O’Connor was named head coach of the men’s basketball program in July 2017 after serving as assistant coach and assistant athletic director at Arizona Western College since 2015. During his time at AWC, O’Connor assisted in back-to-back 20 win seasons, including a Region I Conference Regular Season title and Region I Conference Tournament title in 2016-2017. In his first season with the Matadors, the team reached the Region I Semifinals. O’Connor was instrumental in the recruitment of several key players, including the Freshman of the Year in 2016-2017. While at Arizona Western, O’Connor coached one Second Team All-American, four First Team ACCAC All-Conference selections, and one ACCAC Player of the Year. Along with basketball duties, O’Connor also aided the athletic department with fundraising and event planning.
Prior to Arizona Western College, O’Connor spent one season at Hopkins Academy in Massachusetts working with the men’s and women’s basketball teams and then spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Kansas State University while working on his master’s degree. During that stretch under Bruce Weber, Kansas State went to the NCAA tournament and lost to eventual national runner-up Kentucky. O’Connor also worked under Weber as a student manager for four years at the University of Illinois.
Following the announcement of the Coach of the Year honors, O’Connor and his Aggies look to build on their successes as they head into the NJCAA Region II tournament March 3-5 at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee. On Thursday, March 3 at 3 p.m., the Aggies will face Redlands Community College at 3 p.m. to begin tournament play.
