Collin Murray-Boyles
Frame: 6’7″, 245 lbs
Position: Forward/Center
Team: South Carolina Gamecocks
2025 Draft Age: 19
Stats via: Sports-Reference​

Offense

Murray-Boyles functions as a downhill-first connector whose power, footwork, and feel let him live in the lane: he converted just under 59 percent of his field-goal attempts and 74 percent at the rim, top-ten nationally among high-usage forwards.​ South Carolina treated him as a quasi-hub—he set ghost screens, slipped into space, then picked out cutters or kick-outs, logging 2.4 assists per game and ranking second on the team in potential assists.​

His playmaking, plus a willingness to set bone-rattling picks, sketches Murray-Boyle’s NBA role as a short-roll facilitator and secondary hand-off initiator who punishes switches and rewards movement shooters. The flaw in his game is that defenders already sag several feet under his actions. Murray-Boyles attempted barely more than one triple a game and made just over 26 percent, with a middling 71 at the stripe, suggesting only incremental growth.​ Until the touch translates from 15 feet out, he must keep the ball hopping, avoiding the turnovers that crept in whenever he over-dribbled or forced cross-court lasers.

Expect coaches to deploy him as a screen-and-dive big who can catch at the nail, make the next read, and finish through contact; think a mini-Draymond Green or Paul Millsap-lite offensively. If the jumper climbs into the low-thirties on moderate volume, the toolbox expands to pick-and-pop actions and inverted initiations that fully weaponize his passing vision.​

 

Defense

Defense is where Murray-Boyles’ ticket will be punched at the next level. When he played, South Carolina was 12 points per 100 possessions stingier, the best on-off mark in the SEC.​ His seven-foot-plus wingspan, twitchy hands, and ballet-quick feet let him switch across five positions, jump passing lanes (1.5 steals), and still rotate back for weak-side rim contests (1.3 blocks).​ 

Murray-Boyles mirrors guards in space by sinking into a low stance to wall off drives without fouling, yet he also stonewalls bigger rollers with a low center of gravity and violent hand slaps at the gather.​ NBA personnel will view him as a scheme-flexible “Swiss Army Knife” who can blitz pick-and-rolls, peel-switch, or anchor small-ball line-ups as the five while corralling rebounds (18.2 rebound rate).​ The lone tactical worry is vertical size: true seven-footers can shoot over his six-seven frame if rotations force him into prolonged drop coverage. His early minutes will therefore come in switch-heavy or aggressive hedge systems that accentuate anticipation rather than length.​

Looking Ahead

Teams hunting for high-end connective tissue between stars should have Murray-Boyles circled in the lottery. If his three-pointer settles into even average territory and trims the live-ball turnovers, Murray-Boyles profiles as a culture-driver whose playmaking and multi-positional defense unlock five-out groups on both ends. Without that shooting bump, he is still a valuable energy big who tilts possessions with screens, cuts, and defensive havoc; an outcome closer to Chuck Hayes than Draymond Green, but worthwhile in today’s switch-everything playoffs.​