For the second straight day, a Columbia basketball product announced he will stay home and play for Lamont Paris and USC. Sunday it was AC Flora forward Collin Murray-Boyles announcing for the Gamecocks. Monday, 6-6 Arden Conyers of Westwood followed his lead and pledged to the Gamecocks.
Like Murray-Boyles, Conyers had a strong summer playing for Upward Stars, and that garnered the attention of Paris and his staff as they made the rounds through the AAU circuit. Conyers did not have any so-called Power Five offers until visiting USC last week and leaving with one from Paris.
“Arden is an extremely humble, unselfish, and hardworking young man that just continues to work hard to develop his game,” said Westwood coach John Combs. “He is an excellent shooter from three. He’s lethal as a catch and shoot 3-point shooter and better than average shooting the three off the dribble creating his own shot. He also is a good and willing passer, and being 6’7, he is able to make really good reads and deliver the ball when and where it needs to go.”
Combs added that there’s more to Conyers than what you can find on the stat sheet.
“I love coaching Arden,” Combs said. “He is a fun to coach. He works hard and wants to win. He is not stat driven—he is driven to win at a high level.”
His other offers included Wofford, Winthrop, Furman, Radford, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State and Upstate. He has taken official visits to Winthrop, Furman and Georgia Southern.
Last season Conyers averaged 18 points and 6 rebounds per game and shot 39% from three-point range in earning All-Region honors. He and Murray-Boyles are the Gamecocks’ two commitments for the 2023 class.
