The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast posts each week to GoRacers.com, iTunes and Soundcloud.
McPherson was inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1989 after an outstanding career for Racer men's basketball from 1964-67. Racer fans remember McPherson as an accurate shooter that lit it up for Coach Cal Luther.
Coach Luther had a mind for up-tempo offense and a philosophy that was perhaps ahead of its time. Consider McPherson's senior season of 1966-67 when the Racers set the program record by scoring 89.5 points per game in a time when the addition of the 3-point shot was 20 years away. The record stood until it bested by Coach Scott Edgar's 1993-94 season when the Racers averaged 90.0 points per game. No doubt, McPherson and his teammates loved to play fast as Coach Luther instructed.
"There were a few teams playing like that, but not many," McPherson recalled. "The "Hurryin Hoosiers" at the University of Indiana for Coach Branch McCracken come to mind. It was a different style and Coach Luther was always looking for that point guard that could read the floor and get the ball to you. The understanding Cal had of the game was just unbelievable."
McPherson, who wore No. 45, was one of four players during his time to become Murray State hall of famers. In 1978, Jim Jennings was inducted after being OVC Player of the Year in 1964 and he was followed in 1979 by Stewart Johnson, who was an All-America in 1966 and was one of the first African American players at Murray State. Dick Cunningham led the nation in rebounding in 1967 with 21.8 per game and was inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame in 1986. McPherson was inducted into the MSU hall in 1989. These four legends played together and produced multiple OVC and All-America honors and three of them (Cunningham, Johnson and McPherson) were NBA draft selections.
On the night of Feb. 9, 1966, McPherson set the MSU single game scoring mark with 44 points against Middle Tennessee at Racer arena. The former record by Bennie Purcell of 41 points had stood for 14 years and it was Purcell (assistant to Coach Luther) who whispered into Luther's ear to put McPherson back into the game in the final minutes of an easy win for the Racers.
"First let me say, Bennie Purcell was a great guy and one of the reasons I came to Murray State was him," McPherson said. "It was funny, Bennie came down to the bench and said to me, 'hey, you only need a couple of baskets to break my record, I'm going to tell Coach Luther to put you back in'. It takes a big guy to do that."
McPherson's record of 44 points stood a couple of months shy of 30 years, when Marcus Brown scored 45 points against Washington University of St. Louis in 1995, also at Racer Arena. Brown's record is still tops at MSU.
McPherson was chosen All-Ohio Valley Conference as a junior and senior, when he averaged 21.8 points per game. He finished as the third-leading scorer in school history with 1,513 points. No Racer scored more points during the 1960s and McPherson is still No. 13 on the all-time list.
Out of Gas City, Indiana, McPherson and his wife, Laurie, are high school sweethearts, who were married about the time they came to Murray State and have celebrated 56 years together. The McPherson family is full of athletes and Herb is a proud Grandpa.
"All four of my kids went to college and participated in sports and now to have 11 grandchildren," McPherson said. "I've got one swimming at Michigan State, another at Saint Louis. We've got one playing collegiate football, volleyball and golf and several that are athletes at their high schools. We've got them spread out all over the place and it's fun keeping up with them."
Never far away from Herb's thoughts is his connection to Murray State.
"One of the best experiences for my wife and myself was being students at Murray State University," McPherson said. "We are very proud of our degrees that we received from Murray State. I was fortunate as a young man to be able to come to Murray and play for Coach Cal Luther and Coach Bennie Purcell."
About Runnin' With The Racers Podcast
Murray State Basketball great Jonathan Stark was the first guest when the pilot episode posted Aug. 29, 2018, The podcast is produced weekly and usually is available by Wednesday. The Runnin' with the Racers Podcast is mainly guest driven with news and notes of the week from the Racers. Dave Winder, MSU Athletics Associate AD for Media Relations is the host. The podcast is available on GoRacers.com, ITunes and Soundcloud.
October 15, 2020 at 11:54PM
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Runnin' With The Racers Podcast - Herb McPherson - MSU GoRacers
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