Collin Murray-Boyles' former coach Josh Staley weighs in on Gamecocks' emerging star

There can’t be many people in the Midlands less shocked to see what South Carolina freshman Collin Murray-Boyles has done this year than former A.C. Flora boys basketball coach Josh Staley.

Murray-Boyles, who played most of his high school career at Flora before playing his final year at Wasatch Academy in Utah, has been a revelation for the Gamecocks, averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game through 19 career games.

Staley, who currently is the head coach at nearby Ridge View, saw for years what the college basketball world has seen this season.

“Collin is such a great person,” Staley said in a GamecockCentral Takeover Hour Interview on 107.5 The Game. “He has an old soul. He’s been mature for a very long time. His insides are very, very good. He has a good heart. He’s a high-character kid. So it’s not going to be hard. I knew the transition wasn’t going to be difficult for him. All he had to do was, learn Coach Paris’ style, his tempo, what he expected from him, and establish his role. So it’s not a surprise at all that he’s sitting in with older players that’s been playing at that level for much longer than him because Collin, he’s such a coachable young man and a great person. So I knew it was going to be easy for him.”

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Murray-Boyles’ recruitment wasn’t necessarily a high-profile one, though he did finish the recruiting process as a four-star prospect and the No. 105 overall prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking.

When the Columbia native officially arrived on campus last summer, word quickly began to leak out about the Gamecocks’ freshman who had quickly captured the attention of anyone who had been around the team.

But a preseason bout with mono slowed Murray-Boyles’ progress and delayed his debut until the beginning of December.

“All of what we’re seeing now is an accumulation of the work that he’s put in over the years,” Staley said. “Collin has always had a great feel for the game. He’s always been around the game. His brother played at a high level. His brother is a professional now. And JB, James, takes a really, really big part in Collin’s life, so he’s been able to learn the game for a very long time. But, like, all that communication, all of the great feel on the game and being an anchor, that’s been his – since I’ve known him, he’s been playing the game. So, it’s just now that the world and the nation is getting a chance to see it.”

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Delayed but not deterred, Murray-Boyles has emerged as one of the Gamecocks’ best players, raising the potential ceiling for this team in the process.

After producing double-digit points in just three of his first 15 appearances, Murray-Boyles has gone for 16, 16, 31, and 19 in his last four.

As impressive as the 6-foot-7, 231-pounder has been for the Gamecocks, Staley echoed what head coach Lamont Paris has said — that there’s still plenty of upside to go. And he confirmed that the big man even has a jump shot in his game that has yet to be revealed to the college basketball world.

“Oh, there’s a lot to his game they haven’t seen yet,” he said. “His jump shot might be the most polished part of his game. He can really shoot the ball from 15 feet in, 25 feet in. He has a great three-ball. He has a great mid-range pull-up. Collin can really shoot the ball. When he played for me, we wanted him to shoot it more. But like I said in another interview, that’s not quite his role right now. He’s buying in and doing what the team needs him to be successful. But he can definitely stretch the floor. That’s why I know his game is going to translate at the next level also.”

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