Lincoln Riley expects QB Kyler Murray to play at Oklahoma regardless of MLB Draft

Murray is one of the top prospects in the 2018 MLB Draft class

By Barrett Sallee

Jun 1, 2018 at 9:34 am ET • 1 min read

For the second time during his football career, Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray has a draft decision to make that could be worth millions.

Murray -- a junior who is competing with sophomore Austin Kendall for the top spot on the depth chart in the post-Baker Mayfield era -- is one of the top prospects in next week's Major League Baseball draft. He lives a double life as a centerfielder on the Sooner baseball team, and is ranked No. 36 overall according to MLB.com's 2018 prospect watch.

Whatever happens, Murray intends -- for now anyway -- to remain a part of the Sooners football team this summer and beyond, no matter where he's drafted on the baseball side.

"I knew the deal when we were getting into it," head football coach Lincoln Riley said at an alumni event, according to ESPN.com. "[The family has] lived up to their word in every part of it."

Murray is hitting .296 with 10 home runs, 47 RBI and 10 stolen bases with a .954 OPS in 51 games this year for Sooners, as they head into the NCAA Baseball Tournament this weekend as a No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional.

This is nothing new to Murray or his family. Prior to his transfer to Oklahoma, Murray was a top-tier prospect in football and baseball coming out of high school in 2015. He was ranked No. 34 overall in MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects when he opted out of that year's draft, passing up on millions in the process.

During his true freshman year at Texas A&M in 2015, he completed 72-of-121 passes for 686 yards, five touchdowns, seven interceptions with 335 rushing yards and one touchdown. As Mayfield's backup in 2017 at Oklahoma, Murray completed 18-of-21 passes for 359 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, and added 142 yards on the ground.

Following the spring game, Riley seemed upbeat about both of his potential starting quarterbacks.

"There will be some things we can evaluate, especially how they handle the situations," he said, according to SportingNews.com. "Both those guys can play. They've had good springs. We'll produce with those guys."