There was a lot of speculation surrounding where USC’s Collin Murray-Boyles would be selected heading into the first round of the NBA draft on Wednesday. Well, CMB didn’t have to wait very long. The Toronto Raptors selected Murray-Boyles with the 9th overall pick, making him USC’s ninth first-round draft pick all-time.
Murray-Boyles is the fourth Gamecock to be drafted since 2000, but the second in three years. GG Jackson went to the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2023 draft.
The Columbia native’s NBA stock rose when he arrived at South Carolina in 2023 and became a two-year starter for the Gamecocks, earning second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors this past season.
In 2024-25, Murray-Boyles was one of the lone bright spots in the Gamecocks’ 12-win, 20-loss season. He averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds, and just over two assists per game, earning second-team All-SEC honors. Murray-Boyles and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson were the only players in Power 5 leagues to average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block per game while shooting better than 50% from the field.
He is the first Gamecock player selected in the first round of the NBA draft since Renaldo Balkman was picked 20th by New York in 2006. He’ll join a Raptors club that finished 11th in the Eastern Conference last year with a 30-52 overall record.