Murdix gets positive injury update, Boone elevated into starting PG role

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The WKU Hilltopper men’s basketball team will be back in town later on this week after going 1-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, and in the squad’s return to campus graduate guard Terrion Murdix received some uplifting news following an injury in the Bahamas.

Head coach Hank Plona revealed that the right knee injury will seemingly not keep the starter out for the season, but the team is hopeful he can return at the start of 2026.

Murdix will not need surgery to repair the injury, which is in the opposite knee that’s kept him off the court the past few years, and Coach Plona shared optimism that he can get his lead ball handler back on the court before too long.

“ We had a couple of these last year where I sat up here and I really never thought a player was going to come back, but we didn’t rule him out. I do think there’s optimism that Terrion’s going to be able to return this year from this injury,” Plona said. “He can walk; he can put weight on it. We’re being careful with it. The swelling’s going down, the flexibility’s getting better day by day, but I would say that we’re more hopeful today than we were a day or two ago that by conference season that he’s either back or right there.”

In the meantime, Plona announced the Tops will elevate freshman Armelo Boone into that starting point guard role after a strong open to his college career.

The Tops have a very solid committee of guards on the roster, but the WKU staff sees many similarities between Boone and Murdix when it comes to pure knowledge of the game.

Plona recently spoke more on the talented first year from Lexington who’s been named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week three of the first four weeks this season.

“ The way he scored the ball, those kind of quirky mid-range shots versus {Wichita State} was impressive. When we were struggling to get the ball in the bucket, he bailed us out a few times. Obviously, he makes some athletic plays with and without the ball, and man, he’s just a competitor and has a great will to win and a great attitude and a great energy about him,” Plona said. “He’s obviously gotten off to a great start here in the first seven games of his career and we’re hoping he keeps moving in that positive direction, and I expect him to.”