Collin Murray-Boyles pressed on decision between NBA Draft, returning to South Carolina

South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles is going to have a choice about whether or not to enter his name into the 2025 NBA Draft. That’s not decided yet, though, and isn’t considered for the moment after just coming off the end of the season for the Gamecocks.

Murray-Boyles was asked about him possibly declaring for the upcoming draft following a 72-68 loss for South Carolina to Arkansas in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. He said that it’ll be something he talks about with his people in the coming weeks.

“Um, that’s a discussion for my family, coaches, and my inner circle to discuss later on,” Murray-Boyles said. The Gamecock star kept it short and sweet.

Lamont Paris was also asked about it regarding his team’s best player the past two years in Murray-Boyles. He hadn’t considered it too much with their year having just ended this week in Nashville. Still, in deciding between what’s here for him in college or possibly there for him in the association, he’ll give the best opinion that he can for his future.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t, I don’t know what he’s thinking, um, first,” Paris said postgame. “Second of all, we just got done with a difficult season that our guys should get a lot of credit. I mean, I don’t know if people know anybody – it used to be eighteen to twenty-two, you say now it’s seventeen to, like, twenty-six is the window of the age of these guys. But, I don’t know if you know many young people in that group. Generally speaking, they’re pretty quick to pivot if there’s adversity in front of them. This team had a lot of adversity and they refused to pivot anywhere so I give them a lot of credit for that.

“So, like, I don’t know. I just haven’t really thought about any of that stuff. There’ll be a lot of people that will be making a decision on whether they’re going to go to the draft or stay and, certainly, certainly, there are most incentives to stay in college these days than there have been. But, um, but, you know, I’ve always believed when, you know if – this is about these young men and trying to help them. When their opportunity is the right opportunity, they should do exactly what’s the best that they believe is the best for them.

“And so, if I can provide a little advice for him, um, it won’t be slanted in any direction. And so, that’s just not who I am. I’m not that selfish so, if I can provide any intel or advice that’ll help him ultimately when it comes time to make a decision then I’ll do that.”

In 60 games as a Gamecock, Murray-Boyles has averaged 13.8 points (59% FG), 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.2 blocks. That included a career-best season as a sophomore with 16.8 points (58.6% FG), 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. That earned him a spot this year on the All-SEC Second Team.

With that, Murray-Boyles has been projected as a first-round pick for much of this season by CBS, ESPN, and by On3’s James Fletcher and Jamie Shaw. It’s now about whether he makes the most of that stock now or opts for a junior season in college.

Murray-Boyles isn’t decided if he’ll be back in Columbia or in the NBA next season. That thought process will start this week, though, with it being the offseason’s big question there now that it has started for South Carolina.