James is the son of Steve and Deborah Murrell; both missionaries in the Philippines. James has two siblings; William, age 21 and Johnathan, age 17.

In high school, James played #1 and undefeated his senior year at Faith Academy. James also has won 2 national Philippine Opens.

James was also recruited by Belmont and MTSU, but chose Lipscomb because of its outstanding tennis program and because his brother was a student there and played tennis for them.

In the future, James hopes to pursue a career in music. He enjoys playing the guitar and piano. His favorite music group is Lifehouse.