Kris Murray

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa men’s basketball standout Kris Murray was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 23rd overall selection of the 2023 NBA Draft held Thursday evening.

Murray watched the draft privately in Iowa City surrounded by family and friends.

Kris’ twin brother, Keegan was selected with the fourth overall pick a year ago by the Sacramento Kings. It marks the first time in program history that Iowa has had first-round draft picks in consecutive years (B.J. Armstrong and Roy Marble were each chosen in the first round of the 1989 draft).

The Murrays are the fifth set of twins drafted in the NBA first round, joining Horace and Harvey Grant (1987; 1988), Brook and Robin Lopez (2008), Markieff and Marcus Morris (2011) and Amen and Ausar Thompson (2023).

Murray was a consensus third-team All-American who shared the 2023 Chris Street Award with teammate Filip Rebraca. The Cedar Rapids native averaged a team-best 20.2 points and 7.9 rebounds as a junior.