Murdock father-son combination helps Wichita Wizards win first basketball title

Growing up in a family of Wichita basketball royalty, Jun Murdock has long felt the weight of expectation that comes with his last name.

His father, Johnny, is a City League legend, a two-time state champion at South who went on to score 1,834 points at Missouri State in a Hall-of-Fame career. His uncle, Jeff, was also a City League standout who won a state title at South. His grandfather, Mitch, was a star player at East and later at Friends University.

Oh, and his older brother by five years, Jordan, was a two-time NAIA first-team All-American and remains the all-time leading scorer at Friends with 2,484 career points.

“It was kind of tough at times because I was always getting compared to them,” Jun Murdock said. “I’ve always wanted to prove to everybody that I could do my own thing and I have my own kind of game.”

It’s safe to say Jun has carved out his own piece in family history with his play this year.

The 5-foot-11 guard finished his collegiate career this past spring by averaging 18.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals at Kansas Wesleyan, earning NAIA third-team All-America honors .

And then, this past weekend, Murdock scored 22 points to help lead the Wichita Wizards to their first minor-league title in a 138-99 victory over the Oklahoma Kings in the Mid-America Basketball Association championship game. After averaging 31.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.6 assists over the course of an undefeated season, Murdock was named league MVP.

Adding to the experience was the fact that his father, Johnny, was the Wizards’ coach.

“I’m so proud of him because you can see his growth,” Johnny Murdock said. “He was always in his brother’s shadow or my shadow growing up, but now he’s made a whole name for himself. And that’s what we all strive for as basketball players is to make our own name. He’s done that. And he’s got bigger and better things on the way.”

While the comparisons to his brother and father added pressure to perform, Jun Murdock said it was a small price to pay to access so much basketball knowledge in his family.

He doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that he is blossoming as a basketball player in a year where he has spent extended time with his family. Not only did Jun play this summer for his father on the Wizards, but he also played for his brother, Jordan, who is an associate head coach at Kansas Wesleyan.

“It’s one of the best things ever. Everybody probably wishes they had a family like mine,” Jun Murdock said. “It’s so awesome to receive the advice they give me 24/7. My dad and my brother are always looking out for me, always trying to help me get better. They have so much to do with how I am today. Those are two guys I’ve always looked up to. They’re my heroes, for sure.”

The appeal of coaching his son was part of the reason why Johnny Murdock agreed to take on the challenge of leading the Wizards. He hadn’t coached his youngest son in a decade, since the MAYB days on a team called And-1 with Jun and his friends.

But he also recognized the potential for the Wizards in Wichita. The franchise had always been a championship contender, but had never hoisted a trophy.

That changed this year with the Wizards averaging more than 138 points per game in a dominant 10-0 run through the five-team MABA. The team’s core features several former Wichita high school standouts like Bryant Mocaby (Derby), Terrance Moore (Heights), D.J. Jones (South), Daran Lee (South), Braylyn Stanford (Northwest), Curtis Profit Jr. (Heights) and Caleb Moore (West). Other team members included Steph Ayangma, Kavonte Kinney, Darius Roy, Charles Sharkey and Steve Staco.

“Honestly, this has been a dream team,” Wizards owner Mark Creed said. “There were no egos, no attitudes, no issues whatsoever. They have a lot of respect for Johnny because they know his past, they know his kids and they know he has a very strong basketball IQ. Whenever he talks, they listen. They have a great deal of respect for Johnny and for one another and that showed on and off the court.”

“The title is really a credit to the players and their dedication,” Johnny Murdock said. “We talk all the time about how hard they played and practiced. Our practices were like games. I think that gave us an edge this year. It was easy for them when it came to the games because they practiced so hard all the time.”

Winning a championship together was even more meaningful to the father and son combination because they don’t know if they’ll ever have the chance to do it again.

The family is hopeful that Jun will have the opportunity to play professional basketball overseas after an All-American season at Kansas Wesleyan and a championship run with the Wizards.

With his oldest son a rising star in the coaching ranks and now Jun taking off as a player in his own right, Johnny had a lot to be grateful for after bringing another title home to Wichita this past Sunday.

“It’s definitely up there (in the family basketball history), I know that,” Johnny Murdock said. “But the biggest blessing was just being able to spend more time around him. He’s going to go play more basketball overseas, so it was just a wonderful opportunity to be around him more. We’re all really close, so being able to watch him grow up as a man and a basketball player, it was just really special.”