Collin Murray-Boyles shares his wardrobe mishap in midst of 24-point game
When Collin Murray-Boyles is driving to the rim, there’s not much that’s going to stop him.
You have one of two options. You can either foul him on his way up to force him to the free throw line, or you can try to contest him and hope for the best.
Late in the first half on Thursday, Murray-Boyles went up for a driving layup. But he took a foul on his way up and crashed to the floor. After getting back up, he noticed something wrong with his shoe.
“I think I drove and got fouled. And then I came back on my way down and saw my string coming off. I was like, man, this is ridiculous,” Murray-Boyles said.
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As it turned out, Murray-Boyles’ white Under Armor shoes had broke. It was something that caught him completely off-guard.
After hitting one of two free throws, the freshman forward checked out of the game. As he got to the bench, a staff member sprinted to South Carolina’s locker room to grab his only other pair of shoes.
“These white ones, they broke on me. So I had to put my red ones on,” he said. “They had too much grip at the beginning, I was so devastated. These the only two that I brought. They’re on their last leg. This one about to break too.”
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Despite this, not even an improbable circumstance could’ve stopped Murray-Boyles. He finished with 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a 80-66 win over Arkansas in the second round of the SEC Tournament. He also had seven rebounds and four steals.
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“It’s great to see,” Murray-Boyles said about his progress. “When I look back on this season, go watch my film, see all the great things I did, and then obviously try to build on it. I’ve still got some parts in my game that need to be up to that next level with my shooting and perimeter skills. But I’m going to get to that for sure.”
At this point, there aren’t many things that Murray-Boyles can’t do. Although, the only part of his game he’s yet to unveil is a three-point shot. And according to his teammates, it was something he was working on before contracting mono earlier in the season.
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“It’s actually crazy, though, because before mono, he actually was clipping from three. Like every practice and everything. It was really crazy,” BJ Mack said. “So I feel like the more he gets back into playing, especially in the offseason, he’s going to be back to shooting threes like he was earlier.”
Even Murray-Boyles himself hasn’t ruled it out either. Of course, he’s only taken five three-pointers all season. But it’s hard not to think about how hard he could be to guard if he figured that part out.
“Of course, I’m always working on it, always trying to get better for next year,” he said. “That’s not my role right now. I’m playing my role to the best of my ability. And then next year, come in and use my three-point ball and make teams have to guard me a different way. It’s definitely coming for sure.”
