Where South Carolina basketball product Collin Murray-Boyles projects to land in lead-up to NBA draft

South Carolina basketball will have big shoes to fill in the upcoming 2025-26 season. However, a silver lining of that is the bragging rights that the Gamecocks will almost certainly have on June 25. That point of pride? Former forward Collin Murray-Boyles is widely expected to be a first-round selection in the NBA Draft. Backing up that optimism, Murray-Boyles earned an invitation to the NBA Draft green room for the first-round television broadcast.

The first round of the draft will be on Wednesday, with 30 players selected. After a sophomore season in which he averaged 16.8 PPG and 8.3 RPG, Murray-Boyles was an All-SEC Second Team selection. Through the pre-draft process, he has turned heads.

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On3.com’s mock draft, published Wednesday morning, has Murray-Boyles going tenth to the Houston Rockets.

“Collin Murray-Boyles has drawn some big comparisons throughout the draft process, and is among the most interesting players to project and predict his value,” James Fletcher III wrote. “He immediately enters the league as a versatile and disruptive defender capable of guarding many positions at a high level.”

Other outlets are also high on the South Carolina prospect. Though GG Jackson was selected in the second round of the 2023 NBA draft, the Gamecocks haven’t had a first-round draft pick since Renaldo Balkman was the Knicks’ selection at the 20th slot in the 2006 NBA draft.

ESPN’s latest mock draft, published Tuesday, has Murray-Boyles falling slightly but not out of the first round. Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo wrote praise about the Columbia native when they mocked him 15th to Oklahoma City.

“Some (executives) are enamored with his defensive versatility and all-around production and see an outstanding NBA role player,” the two wrote.

But Givony and Woo were quick to point out why Murray-Boyles isn’t a surefire top-10 pick.

“One of the more divisive players among executives we’ve spoken with…others harp on his limited positional size and lack of perimeter shooting, and the way those two factors limit his projectable ceiling,” ESPN’s piece pointed out.

Sports Illustrated’s Matt Brandon kept Murray-Boyles in the lottery range for his latest mock draft. Brandon’s Wednesday piece has the Trail Blazers picking the South Carolina product at the 11th overall selection.

“The Blazers are on the hunt for a dynamic wing, and Collin Murray-Boyles just might be the perfect prescription,” he wrote. He has “carved out a reputation as a high-energy, high-impact player,” per Brandon. Murray-Boyles averaged 1.5 SPG and 1.3 BPG last season as a sophomore.

NBADraft.net is not as high on Murray-Boyles. However, their mock has the forward teaming up with a familiar face. The site’s Wednesday mock draft has Murray-Boyles going off the board to the Grizzlies at the 16th pick. That, of course, would make him teammates with former Gamecock GG Jackson. The current Grizzly, also a Columbia native, averaged 7.2 PPG last season.

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Despite the variety in exact placement, virtually all reputable sources have Murray-Boyles as a first-round talent. That distinction would make him the fourth Gamecock basketball player since 1976 to be selected in the first 30 picks of the NBA draft.

This year’s NBA Draft will take place on Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26. ABC and ESPN will broadcast the first round on Wednesday, starting at 8:00 p.m. If he accepts his invitation, Collin Murray-Boyles will be in attendance for the first round. Then, on Thursday, ESPN will broadcast the second round at 8:00 p.m. Both the first and second rounds will stream on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

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