B.J. Mack takes on mentorship role with South Carolina freshman Collin Murray-Boyles
B.J. Mack and Lamont Paris were familiar with each other well before they joined forces at South Carolina.
Prior to joining the Gamecocks, Mack was a player at Wofford, and Paris was the head coach at Chattanooga. The two met five times while Mack was a Terrier, long before Paris came to South Carolina in 2022.
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Mack would play one more year at Wofford before deciding to find a new home for his final college season. He said that Paris was the first coach to reach out after he decided to enter the transfer portal.
Paris told him that he was looking for an experienced leader to help mentor the young players he recruited.
“He told me that Collin (Murray-Boyles) and Arden (Conyers) were coming in. He had a lot of younger guys that would be able to make an impact on the team,” Mack said in a Garnet Trust exclusive interview. “So he was like, ‘I need veteran leadership, someone that’s been through the ropes. I’ve seen the way you play. I’ve had to play against you for three straight years.’ He knew what my talents were.”
Mack ultimately decided to enroll at South Carolina and has since played an important role in the program’s turnaround. The graduate student forward is averaging 13.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for a South Carolina team that is closing in on its first March Madness bid since 2017.
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In the process, he has developed a special relationship with Murray-Boyles, who has emerged as one of South Carolina’s brightest stars this season.
Mack said that Murray-Boyles has looked up to the team’s veterans and picked their brains since day one.
“He’s just wanted to soak in everything. He’s been watching a lot of film, asking a lot of questions from me, to Josh (Gray) and Ben (Bosmans-Verdonk),” Mack said. “Just because we’re older guys, we’ve been through it. So he’s just wanted to learn everything from us.”
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Some of that learning came early in the season, when Murray-Boyles was forced to miss time due to mono. Despite dealing with a severe illness, Murray-Boyles was preparing himself to contribute as soon as he returned, Mack said.
“When he did have mono, he was just making sure he was coming back strong, 100 percent,” Mack said. “He was like, ‘Hey, if I’m going to be able to come back on this floor and be able to make an impact, I have to be ready.’ He saw how we were rolling, so he was like, ‘I want to contribute to that.’”
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Since then, Murray-Boyles has done more than just contribute — he has been a pivotal part of South Carolina’s turnaround season. The freshman is averaging just under 10 points per game and has scored double-digit points in his last five contests. In one of those games, he tallied a season-high 31 points on 14-of-17 shooting against Vanderbilt.
Impressive performances like that have not come as a shock to Murray-Boyles’ teammates, Mack said.
“We weren’t even surprised when he’s started to come along now because we’ve been seeing it at practice, seeing how he’s been going after it,” Mack said.
Mack said Murray-Boyles’ competitiveness and work ethic have made him a more coachable player as the season has gone along.
“I was in a similar situation at Wofford with having a lot of young guys on the team,” Mack said. “This is kind of easier knowing him because he wants to learn and help the team out in any way possible.”
