NBA or college? South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles has good news for Gamecocks
Lamont Paris almost seemed offended.
Someone asked the Gamecocks’ head coach if his ferocious freshman Collin Murray-Boyles was one of the best-kept secrets in college basketball.
Paris paused. Almost perplexed that a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward who just put up 24 points in an SEC Tournament win could be a hidden figure.
“I don’t know how it’s a secret at this point. He’s been playing really well,” Paris said. “Some of the shots he made today were off-balance, moving away from the basket. It takes incredible touch to finish some of those.”
Murray-Boyles certainly began the season as a secret. He missed the first month of his college career battling mono. He missed weeks of practice and didn’t see the floor until December, slowly building up his workload into SEC play.
Since February, though, he’s been one of the best big men in the conference. In his past 11 games, including Thursday’s 80-66 win over Arkansas, he’s averaging 16.7 points and over eight rebounds a game.
His play, anchored by tremendous defense and bolstered with a beautiful hook shot and a stellar post game, has garnered high praise. NBA praise.
Many believe that Murray-Boyles, after just one season in college, could leave school and be selected in the NBA Draft.
But when asked by The State on Thursday if he’s for sure coming back next season, Murray-Boyles said he was.
And that’s not to say he hasn’t thought about the NBA possibility.
“Of course you have people talking,” he said. “Like my brother, he’ll be talking about it and stuff. But my plan isn’t to be — like I want to be ready. I don’t wanna go in, get a contract and then have to go to the (NBA G-League) because I have to work on a couple things.
“I want to go in as prepared as possible so I can have the best chance of longevity.”
In a message to The State, Murray-Boyles’ dad Sean Boyles echoed that statement.
“Coming out of high school we put together a two-year plan for college,” Sean said. “He has a lot of things to work on before he’s ready for the league.”
Certainly, nothing is set in stone. If nothing else, Murray-Boyles could declare for the NBA Draft, go through the process, attend the combine and gather input from teams before making his decision. Meechie Johnson followed that path last year and then returned to school.
He could also become an NCAA Tournament darling. Out there is the possibility that he leads the Gamecocks on a March Madness run and NBA teams take notice and start shuffling him up their draft board.
Regardless, it shows incredible maturity for the 18-year-old Murray-Boyles to think big-picture about the NBA rather than viewing it as an instant paycheck.
And, heck, with another year at South Carolina, he has the potential to work himself into the draft’s first round and, thus, far more money.
“He’s got an unbelievably high ceiling,” Paris said. “I don’t even think he’s close to it still.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2024 at 8:21 PM with the headline "NBA or college? South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles has good news for Gamecocks."
