DePaul University Athletics
Murray Channels Big-Time Success into Event Center Backing
9/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | DEPAUL ATHLETICS FUND
More Information: Event Center at McCormick Square | Supporting DePaul Athletics
CHICAGO - Even though his dream of playing in the NBA never materialized, the sport of basketball has been the transformative link for Malik Murray into a life-changing career in the world of high finance.
After all, it was Dr. James Naismith's invention back in 1891 that helped launch this talented 6-foot, 8-inch forward onto a Division I scholarship at DePaul after a senior year at St. Ignatius where he was Catholic League Player of the Year and led the Wolfpack to its first regional title in 20 years.
And, it was his hoops passion that endeared him to fellow gym rat and Ariel Investments CEO and Chairman John Rogers that resulted in Murray rising to become Vice President of Institutional Marketing and Client Services at Ariel.
Murray made his mark playing for the Joey Meyer-coached Blue Demons of the mid-1990s that were led by high-volume scorer Tommy Kleinschmidt and advanced to the NIT in 1994 and 1995.
Rogers was the captain of the 1979-80 Princeton Tigers that was co-champion of the Ivy League and forged a reputation as a dominant 3-on-3 basketball player with Princeton teammates Kit Mueller, Sean Jackson and Craig Robinson, the brother-in-law of President Barack Obama. Rogers' childhood friend, Harvard basketball co-captain and former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, also played on Rogers' 3-on-3 team.
"Actually, my introduction to John was at a Chicago Bulls Shoot The Bull 3-on-3 Tournament," Murray said. "Our team got to the Final Four and lost to John's team.
"Since joining Ariel, I've played with Arne Duncan on our 3-on-3 team that went undefeated for two years. I've played in other leagues against Arne and Craig Robinson.
"John and I are kindred spirits who are passionate about the game. He is fond of saying that at his alma mater, you got the quality education and the athletics with coach Pete Carill and his Princeton offense. I tell him it's the same at DePaul, except our basketball has a lot more shake-and bake."
Murray's path to DePaul went through St. Ignatius where he averaged 20 points and 9.5 rebounds as a senior on a team that lost to eventual state champion Proviso East in the sectionals.
"St. Ignatius has always been known for its superb academics, but we helped put the school on the map athletically," Murray said. "That meant a great deal to us. Two of our best players finished their high school careers at other schools. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have gone Downstate had the full class I began my career at St. Ignatius with matriculated all the way through."
Murray was most closely recruited by Meyer and DePaul, Marquette, Miami of Ohio and Creighton.
"Bo Ellis was a Marquette assistant coach who grew up playing with my dad," Murray said. "He told me stories about his friendship with my dad and how he had watched me grow up.
"On my visit to Miami of Ohio, the plane landed in Cincinnati and I was told it was another 90-minute drive to Oxford. Where are you taking me? Being from the city, that's a really long drive. It turned out the campus was beautiful and the people there were very nice.
"Three things tipped the scale to DePaul. It was a city school, and I had watched guys like Rod Strickland, Terence Greene and Kevin Edwards, and all their games were on TV. I wanted to be a part of that. Second, I wanted to major in business and DePaul has a great business school. Third, Joey Meyer came to all my games, and it meant a great deal that the head coach was leading their recruiting effort.
"DePaul's personal touch was the difference. One of Joey's assistants was Robert Collins, and he was a family friend of my parents. I got to know guys who came just before me like Howard Nathan, David Booth and Stephen Howard---guys who had a shot playing in the NBA. It was an honor to be friends with guys like that, and I'm still close to David."
Murray is fond of saying that the DePaul experience was so enjoyable the first time (Finance 1996) that he paid for his education the second time when he got his MBA (2004) at the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
"I am forever grateful for my time there and the friendships with athletic director Jean Lenti Ponsetto," Murray said. "I'm still close to Joey and Barbara Meyer and go to a couple of Blackhawks games with them every year. DePaul is a part of me and will be forever.
"There is a certain soul that exists for people in Chicago. It is part of your DNA growing up, and it's in our DNA to look after our own. DePaul put me in a great situation with academics and athletics. I travel a lot for work and notice the networking in different cities. Very few cities compare to Chicago when it comes to looking out for your own."
And that's precisely what Murray is doing now, looking out for his own as he names a locker in the new Event Center at McCormick Square basketball arena. His financial contribution will help pave the way for future Blue Demon student-athletes.
"I'm going to name a locker because when I played there, the locker room was our sanctuary that helped us transition from class," Murray said. "We had a great group of guys that would get together and commiserate. That's where the brotherhood of the team took place, and I have a lot of fond memories of our locker room.
"I'm happy to support the new building, and I'm really excited it's just three miles from where I live. I'm a season ticketholder who drives by the stadium every day on my way to work. Just today, I could see the blue beams up top and the support structure up top is nearly done.
"I'm totally jealous of the new players and the future recruits who will get to play there. I was born and raised on the South Side, and the South Shore neighborhood I lived in is only a 15-minute drive away. If I was a freshman next season, it would be such a thrill with my family and friends just 15 minutes away from coming to watch me play."
As a born-and-bred South Sider, Murray fully appreciates the promise and potential of the Event Center.
"The new arena is transformative in a lot of ways," Murray said. "It's going to bring excitement and a buzz back to the basketball program, and we'll once again be a classic city school like St. John's in New York or Temple in Philadelphia.
"The South Loop is already a great neighborhood in its own right, and this is going to add even more---especially when the sports restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses begin to surround the new building. It's a win-win for the community."
The same could be said for the future of the Blue Demons.
"It's also going to be a game-changer in terms of recruiting," Murray said. "We are grateful for all the years at the Rosemont Horizon and Allstate Arena, but it didn't have the same connectivity to the school. You want your classmates and fans on campus to see you play, and now they can get to the games a lot easier.
"The local recruits get a chance to play in front of family and friends while the national guys get an opportunity to play in a great city like Chicago and become part of something really big. This city has a powerful sports fan base that will pull for them. We'll have the Bulls on the West Side and the Blue Demons on the South Side."
Murray enjoyed his trip down memory lane as he reminisced about his playing days. His favorite moment was draining a clutch three-pointer that was a difference-maker in a Senior Day victory over Saint Louis. The lanky senior did a little sideline strut that had his teammates falling on the floor laughing and then got carried away when his chest bump with the 6-9, 275-pound Bryant Bowden sent Murray flying.
It didn't take very long for the reality of his basketball career to settle in.
"My dad is a judge and my mom is a 41-year veteran of Chicago Public Schools as a teacher and assistant principal," Murray said. "They encouraged me to see the big picture and to have a plan B if my NBA dream did not work out. I knew early on the NBA wasn't in the works.
"I remember my sophomore season at DePaul, we played Memphis State and game-planned against Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway. I think we held him to two points the first half. Well, the game went into overtime and Penny finished with 35.
"I realized right then and there I was nowhere near that good. We faced other future NBA guys like Nick Van Exel at Cincinnati, Allen Iverson at Georgetown, Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley at Duke. I knew I wasn't in their league. I realized that early and didn't take it as a knock. I would just ratchet it up academically as a finance major."
And now he is knocking down "three-pointers" left and right convincing Chief Investment Officers of billion-dollar funds that their best option is to invest with Ariel--- the first and largest minority-owned mutual fund firm in the country.
It's like everything converged for Murray at Ariel with his connection to Rogers and Ariel President Mellody Hobson who is a St. Ignatius graduate.
"I am fortunate to work with people who understand you, and that endears us to each other," Murray said.
And in the midst of all this heady success, Murray has never forgotten his DePaul and Vincentian roots. He's a member of St. Ignatius' Peter Clavery Society. He mentors DePaul basketball players about the skills and image that will enhance a career in finance. He donates his time to the Ariel Community Academy, Chicago Jesuit Academy's College Persistence Committee and has spoken at the Financial Literacy and Leadership Institute.
"I am the beneficiary of a lot of help," Murray said in an article posted on the Kellstadt website. "I won't ever be able to directly repay my parents, family, professional colleagues or teachers at DePaul for investing in me.
"But, I can definitely use my gift to help someone who is trying to get to my position or beyond."
