Coach Murray Garvin

Murray Garvin is an American college basketball coach, formerly the head coach for South Carolina State University. He became head coach when previous head coach Tim Carter resigned midway through the 2012–2013 season.

During the 2015-16 season, Garvin led SC State to its best regular-season finish since 2005 with a 19-15 overall record, including a 12-4 MEAC mark. The Bulldogs finished the regular-season tied for second place, advanced to the MEAC Championship game and earned a postseason tournament bid to the CIT (Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament), the first such appearance since 2003.

For his efforts, Garvin earned numerous Coach of the Year honors, among them MEAC Coach of the Year and NABC District 15 Coach of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award, given to the top minority coach in the country.

He recently received the 2018 Guardians of the Game Award for Education presented by TallOrder.com from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), for his efforts, through his foundation, Garvin's Goals, where he worked in the Orangeburg community to conduct an annual Back to School Bash.

Prior to coming to South Carolina State, Garvin served as associate head coach and assistant coach at Winston-Salem State (2008-10). During the 2009-10 season, Garvin helped coach the Rams to the CIAA Southern Division Championship and an NCAA Division II Tournament appearance.

Garvin also served as an assistant coach at Charleston Southern (2005-08) and was the athletic director and head men’s basketball coach at Clinton Junior College in Rock Hill, S.C. from 2001-05.

During his time at CJC, his teams had an overall record of 61-21, and never finished lower than second in the regular-season conference standings. In 2004, Garvin’s team won the Carolina’s Junior College Conference Division I Championship and he was selected as the Carolina’s Junior College Conference Coach of the Year.

Before entering the college coaching arena, Garvin served as an assistant coach at Tates Creek High School in Lexington, Ky. for three seasons.

In the summer of 2011, Garvin participated in the NCAA-Black Coaches and Administrators Achieving Coaching Excellence (ACE) Program. He was one of 12 men’s basketball coaches selected nationwide to participate in a four-day event in Indianapolis, Ind. Participants received training and education in the areas of leadership, communication, campus relations, media, community involvement and program management.

Along his journey in the coaching profession, Garvin has mentored many players that have gone on to receive All-America and conference recognition.

Over the past 15 years, Garvin has served as a motivational speaker for several different organizations and civic groups. His passion for leadership and to inspire and encourage people to reach for their dreams and that the best days of their lives are still ahead of them serves as the purpose of most of his speaking engagements.

The Pikeville, KY native earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Eastern Kentucky University in 1998. He also serves on the Bamberg, Calhoun, Orangeburg County Board of Trustee’s for The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (F.C.A.) and is a member of Epsilon Omega Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

He and his wife, Latanza, are the proud parents of two daughters -- Khalia Garvin and Jaila Garvin and are members of Saint Paul Baptist Church in Orangeburg, SC.