LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Murray State coach Steve Prohm smiled wide when asked about his future. He says he's staying close to the school that's stuck by him.

"I'll be back at Murray," Prohm said. "I love Murray. I want to be at Murray. We've signed a great class. We've got great kids coming back. We've got a great future here."

Prohm along with point guard Isaiah Canaan took the Racers to the greatest heights ever for the program in the southwestern corner of Kentucky with a top 10 ranking and an NCAA tournament victory.

"If they're all like this," Prohm said. "It'll be a heck of a career."

If only this season ended a little later.

Like the group's 2010 appearance, Murray State failed to reach the regional semifinals after losing a five-point lead over the final 7:43 on a 63-52 loss to Marquette on Saturday. After the game, the Racers departed for spring break to think about what could've been.

"Any time you go 31-2, the season is a success. It doesn't matter where you finish. We've got tradition. We want to win it all, that's how we is. We step on the floor and we're hungry, we're greedy (for success)," forward Latreze Mushatt said. "If we would've made it to the Sweet 16, I think we would've gone farther."

Even though Prohm says he's not going anywhere, he'll likely be a top commodity in coaching searches this offseason after his first year as head coach following five years as an assistant. The school is expected to renegotiate his initial contract that pays him just over $200,000 a year.

"Murray means everything to me," Prohm said. "Murray is a special place, it's like none other place I've ever coached at. But there's something that can be said for coaching at a small college town. ... I love small college towns."

He also likes his team moving forward, especially if Canaan returns to the fold. Canaan averaged 19 points a game and says he anticipates coming back, but both he and Prohm will sit down and discuss his options over the coming weeks.

"I plan on (it). We'll all settle that in the offseason and see what happens," Canaan said. "I won't know until later on. I just want to spend time with my team, make sure everybody's all right. Me being a leader of this team, I wish I could've pulled it out for them."

Canaan, who also played a key role in Murray's 2010 NCAA tournament trip and a loss to Butler, likely won't remember this final performance fondly, either. After scoring 15 points and beating Colorado State 58-41 on Thursday, Canaan went 4 of 17 from the field in the loss to Marquette.

"Everything in life don't happen the way you want it," Canaan said. "Everything that don't go your way, you always got to learn from it. The guys that's coming back, we're all going to learn for it and try to make another run of it next year."

Canaan loses backcourt mate Donte Poole as well as defensive stopper Jewuan Long and bulky forward Ivan Aska. But reserve guard Zay Jackson proved to be a valuable reserve that allowed Canaan to play the shooting guard position. Starting forward Ed Daniel, who had 14 rebounds in Murray State's final game, also will return.

"I'll be in the gym (this week). I'll be ready, working on my jump shot, working on my (ball) handling. My teammates, they'll be right behind me," Jackson said.

The group will be bolstered by five incoming players, including three forwards who are 6-foot-7 or taller, giving the Racers some needed size down low. Also expected to come is 6-4 guard Jeffrey Moss, who'll be counted on to be the defensive stopper and off-the-court leader Long was for this year's team. Mushatt, for one, can't wait to get started again in the fall.

"It's going to be exciting next year," he said. "I came here to win. That's what happened, we won. I'm going to stay in the gym working on my game. I know everybody on this team is going to be working in the gym. That's the type of team we are.

"I know everyone is going to be ready to compete next year."