Shorter ready for new challenge in Murray
MBB: The junior guard led Division II in made three-pointers last season
After leading all of Division II last season with 119 made three-pointers, Brayden Shorter was looking for a new challenge. He found that challenge in Murray, Kentucky.
“I was looking for a good fit all around,” Shorter said. “I didn’t really look too long. I came to Murray on my visit and I had great talks with Coach (Ryan) Miller. Now we’re doing all the right things up here, we’re working hard. I think we have a really good chance to be a top team in the country. It didn’t take me long. I just committed because everything was right and it felt like the right fit.”
After being one of the best shooters in Division II, Shorter is hopeful he can make his mark in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. He feels like he’s handled the transition to Division I pretty well so far.
“Everybody’s a little bit taller and can jump higher and run faster (in Division I), but D2 is just just as competitive,” Shorter said. “There’s just that one percent (difference). Honestly, that’s what I wanted whenever I was in the portal. I didn’t get in for the money or just to say you’re a D1 player. I wanted to get in because I wanted to challenge myself. They challenge me every day. I’m loving it so far.”
The 6’5 junior guard from Springfield, Missouri played his first two collegiate seasons at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Along with his 119 made threes, Shorter averaged 15.5 points and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game. He shot 36.7% from beyond the arc last season, and he worked on improving that number this summer.
“I just keep shooting,” Shorter said about his workout plan in the offseason. “I keep getting more reps. I’m in the gym all the time. I feel like everybody on our team is really good at that. This is one of the best teams I’ve had where everybody is staying after and shooting. Definitely just the reps that we’ve been getting, just constant, not being happy with what happened last year. I want to have an even better season this year and just see what I can do and just work until we see what happens.”
When you make as many triples as Shorter did last year, it might be natural to say, ‘Keep doing more of THAT!’ While he’s spending a lot of time in the gym, that hasn’t been his only home-away-from-home since coming to Murray.
“I’ve been in the weight room a lot,” Shorter said. “I’m getting a lot stronger and that’s helped with distance. I shoot a lot of deep threes, and it’s just making it easier. If I’m getting tired in the game, it’s just muscle memory at that point because I’ve just been training myself over and over again.”
One of 15 new faces on this year’s roster, Shorter loves his new teammates.
“It’s been awesome,” Shorter said. “I feel like we all have a pretty good connection so far. We’ve been playing good with each other. Just keep practicing and we’re getting close to our first game so that’ll be a good test for us. I’m just really excited to see what we can do because I feel like we’ve got a good group of guys and I feel like we all want the same thing. We all want to win, so that’s really, honestly, all you can ask for.”
Murray State will play their first exhibition game next Saturday at Xavier. After a long four months of practicing against each other, Shorter and the Racers are ready to finally go against someone else.
”We’re so excited because we’ve been practicing hard,” Shorter said. “We’ve been doing the right things every day, and we’ve been competing against each other the last three months we’ve been up here. We’re also just ready to see some new faces and get across from somebody.”
Murray State’s exhibition game with Xavier will start at 1:00pm central time on October 18th in Cincinnati.