ST. CROIX — Former Murray State University basketball standout Cuthbert “Cuffy” Victor, one of the most accomplished players in the program’s history, has been inducted into the 2025 Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame ceremony for the Class of 2025 was held Friday on campus in Murray, Kentucky, with Victor recognized among a group of Racers whose legacies span generations.
Victor, who attended the ceremony with his fiancée, children, siblings, mother, and friends, said he was “honored” to be among the inductees while giving a brief speech during the ceremony.
“From St. Croix, Virgin Islands to here, this Hall of Fame honor is humbling,” he said. “I just want to thank you, thank Murray State, thank everybody, and I’m forever [going to] be a Racer.”
He attributed his success to his mother, noting she sacrificed and worked hard to provide for him.
“That gave me everything I needed to pursue my career and pursue my dream,” he said.
Victor thanked his family and friends for always being there to celebrate the highs, encourage him through the lows, and support him every step of the way.
Victor joined Danny Alfeldt (baseball), Alexa Becker (softball), Casey Brockman (football), Marcus Harris (football), Rachel Giustino (volleyball), Tonia Pratt (track and field), and Ivan Roe (rifle) in the 43rd Hall of Fame class.
“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is a tremendous honor, and these Racer greats are incredibly deserving of this recognition,” Murray State Director of Athletics Nico Yantko said in a statement.
A native of St. Croix, Victor played for the Racers from 2000 to 2004 under coaches Tevester Anderson and Mick Cronin. During the ceremony, Victor thanked both coaches for pushing him.
“They never give up on me,” he said. “I want to thank you for pushing me and pushing me to the end.”
Anderson, while introducing Victor during the ceremony, praised him for his leadership, positive attitude, and dominance on the court.
“I want to thank the Hall of Fame Committee for selecting ‘Cuffy’ Victor for the Hall of Fame,” he said. “He’s very, very deserving of that.”
Anderson said Victor was loved by his teammates.
“His teammates always thought he was a leader, and he is a leader on and off the court,” he said. “Never got in trouble, always doing the right thing in the right places. He’s the kind of player that you like to recruit.”
Victor thanked all his teammates too.
“You made this journey possible and unforgettable,” he said.
He also thanked all his Racer families who served as his family away from home.
“Y’all helped me adjust and y’all welcomed me and took care of me while I was here, far away from Virgin Islands,” he said.
He thanked all his Racers fans for supporting him at home, on the road, in good times, and tough ones.
Victor was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2004 and helped lead Murray State to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002 and 2004.
“I never thought this would actually happen,” Victor said about his induction. “I guess everybody that plays [in] college, one of their dreams is being inducted in the school’s Hall of Fame. It was one of my dreams.”
Victor finished his Murray State career with 1,485 points, ranking 17th on the program’s all-time scoring list. He remains the Racers’ all-time leader in blocked shots (160), ranks fourth in steals (167), and sixth in rebounds (935). Since the 1986–87 season, he is one of only 18 players nationally to record such statistics in a career. He is also one of just 16 Murray State players to earn All-American honors.
“I put in all the hard work,” Victor said, adding that his coaches saw something in him, so they kept pushing him. “Putting in the work and accepting the challenge — it pays off.”
Victor said he also dreamed of having a professional basketball career.
“It wasn’t the NBA, but it still was a good career,” he said.
After graduating from Murray State with a degree in business management, Victor went on to enjoy a 13-year professional career overseas, playing in Spain, Russia, France, South Korea, and Puerto Rico. He described the transition from college to professional basketball as eye-opening.
“In college, you’re playing for fun, you’re having fun with your teammates, you’re trying to accomplish a goal — getting to the tournament, trying to win the NCAA Tournament,” Victor said. “When it becomes professional, it’s still fun, but at the same time it becomes your job. So now it’s not too many mistakes you can make.”
Victor also represented the Virgin Islands on the senior men’s national basketball team from his teenage years while still in high school into his 30s, earning a reputation as a cornerstone of the program.
Former Senator Usie Richards, who served as longtime president of the Virgin Islands Basketball Federation, recalled Victor’s early impact as a member of the team at such an early age.
“He held his own, and ever since then, he has been a stalwart and one of the main key figures in the success of the senior men’s national team from the Virgin Islands during his time,” he said.
Richards, federation president from 1980 to 2014, while noting Victor’s talent on the court with the men’s national team and at MSU before pursuing a professional basketball career, said Victor was well worthy of the opportunity to compete at multiple levels.
“His statistics and his accomplishments at Murray State University stands out,” Richards said, noting Victor’s professional career overseas in addition to playing on the senior men’s national team. “I am surely proud of this accomplishment for him, his family, and want us to make sure that we acknowledge the contributions that he made to the Virgin Islands, not only as a basketball player but providing himself as an ambassador of the athletes from the sport of basketball throughout the world.”
Following his retirement from professional basketball in 2017, Victor returned home to St. Croix, where he now serves as a firefighter and EMT, a role he says satisfies the same team-oriented drive that defined his playing career.
“I love being home,” Victor said. “I love being relaxed. I love being around my family, love seeing the beach, the atmosphere down here — I love it.”
As Victor takes his place in the Murray State Athletics Hall of Fame, he also becomes part of an elite group of Racers whose careers reached the NBA. Murray State Hall of Famers with NBA careers include Ja Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies star and 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year inducted as part of the 2024 class; Isaiah Canaan, a 2013 NBA draft pick inducted in 2018; Cameron Payne, a longtime NBA point guard; and Ronald “Popeye” Jones, who played several NBA seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s.
For Victor, the honor is as much about legacy as it is about recognition. His advice for youth interested in playing professional basketball is to dedicate their time to the sport.
“There’s no easy way out,” he said. “You have to put in the work.”
