During a visit to campus in late March, junior college big man Jonathan Fairell made known his intentions to play basketball at Murray State next fall. It was made official last week when Head Coach Steve Prohm announced Fairell’s signing with the Racers.
A sophomore at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Fla., Fairell will transfer to Murray State after this semester, adding much needed experience to a Racer backcourt which is losing seniors Ed Daniel, Brandon Garrett and Latreze Mushatt.
“With the loss of three front court players, we’re losing a lot of experience,” Prohm told Sports Information. “So, we wanted to identify junior college players that could provide immediate toughness and experience to our team. I think Jonathan will provide us with those things.”
During his sophomore season at Indian River, the Miami, Fla., native ranked fourth in rebounding among National Junior College Athletics Association Division-1 teams with 11.8 rebounds per game.
Fairell also shot 67 percent from the field and lead his team with 17.7 points per game.
“Jonathan is an outstanding worker,” Indian River Head Coach Joe Sanchez told Murray State Sports Information. “He’s the type of young man who enjoys every second of instruction and every second of competition. He enjoys a challenge and is the most improved player over two years that I’ve ever coached.”
Standing at 6 feet 6 inches, Fairell could fill the role vacated by Mushatt as an undersized, versatile forward. He will join freshmen Zay Henderson and Terron Gilmore and fellow junior college transfer Jarvis Williams in the Racer backcourt next fall.
Story by Jonathan Ferris, Staff writer.
Information collected from Sports Information.