South Carolina lands massive priority out of the transfer portal
South Carolina prioritized BJ Mack from the minute he stepped foot in the portal and Thursday it paid off.
The Gamecocks officially landed the Wofford big man this afternoon with Mack announcing his commitment publicly via social media.
South Carolina beat out Alabama, Iowa and LSU for the 6-foot-8 forward’s services, getting him in the boat just days after he wrapped his official visit with the Gamecocks.
MORE: Inside the commitment of B.J. Mack
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The Crimson Tide seemed to be the biggest competition South Carolina beat for Mack’s services.
Mack started his career at South Florida before transferring to Wofford where he started 69 of his 85 games he played over three seasons, including every single game over the last two seasons.
Over the last two seasons (64 starts), Mack averaged 16.5 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting while going 37.6 percent from three and 81.2 percent from the free throw line.
Mack also averaged 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists to 1.9 turnovers per game in that span.
This season (2022-23), Mack averaged a career-best 16.6 points while shooting 49.2 percent from the field. He went 59.7 percent from two and 33.5 percent from three. He shot 80.7 percent from the line and brought in 5.6 rebounds per game.
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Mack earned second-team All-SoCon as a junior and was first-team all-conference this season.
Mack was arguably the Gamecocks’ biggest priority in the transfer portal. That was even more true, especially from the forward position, and they were able to land him.
Lamont Paris delayed his trip to Nashville for the SEC Tournament to meet with Mack and his family. After the Gamecocks’ season ended, the entire South Carolina coaching staff went up and visited with him in Charlotte.
Mack took official visits to LSU, Iowa and Alabama before visiting the Gamecocks this past weekend. Coming off the visit, Mack canceled a planned trip to Arkansas and shut his recruitment down.
He made his announcement just a few days later, moving his decision up from his May 4 timeline.
He joins an experienced group of transfers set to enroll at South Carolina this offseason. The Gamecocks are bringing in point guard Ta’Lon Cooper from Minnesota, forward Stephen Clark from the Citadel and Vanderbilt wing Myles Stute.
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South Carolina also has a 2023 recruiting class that includes two more enrolling freshmen in Collin Murray-Boyles and Arden Conyers.
Murray-Boyles, who grew up in Columbia, played his final high school season at Wasatch (Utah) Academy where he had a standout senior year.
The 6-foot-8 forward finished third in the NIBC, arguably the best high school conference in the country, in scoring (280 points) and points per game (15.0) on 69.5 percent shooting.
He also led the league in rebounding with 105 boards while averaging a league-best 8.8 per game.
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Because of that, he soared into the top 100 of the On3 rankings. He sits currently as a four-star and at No. 99 overall.
The On3 Industry ranking–which is a weighted average of all four major recruiting services–has Murray-Boyles as a four-star prospect and the No. 106 player in the class.
Arden Conyers, a sharp-shooting wing out of Westwood (S.C.) High School is the other freshman scheduled to enroll this summer.
On3 considers Conyers a three-star prospect and he checks in at No. 263 in the On3 Industry rankings.
