2025 NBA Draft Prospect- Collin Murray- Boyles, South Carolina

After the Draft Nation podcast in late July, it got me thinking about doing a series on the draft prospects that will be playing collegiate basketball in North and South Carolina this fall. You might be thinking that means I am going to kick things off by talking about Cooper Flagg. The Duke Blue Devil projects by most to be the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, so there is a lot to like about Flagg, obviously. But that is not where I am going to start.

Instead, I want to shine some light on a lesser-known prospect in forward Collin Murray-Boyles of the South Carolina Gamecocks. The sophomore combo forward projects as a late 1st round pick, early 2nd rounder. But Murray-Boyles brings a unique blend of power, high basketball IQ, and above-average court vision for his position that could see him shoot up draft boards.

Box scores are fine, but I would rather watch some film. What I like about this video is that it is not just a compilation of five second highlights. There are more sequences that allow us to see how he functions in sets and designed actions and includes turnovers and instances where he conceded a basket. A much more robust sample for us to formulate an opinion on.

What really jumps out at me over the entirety of this video is how naturally Murray-Boyles moves into open space to make himself available for a pass from a teammate. It is very apparent when he is involved with on and off-ball screens with great examples at starting at the :44, 1:47, 3:04, 5:48, and 6:15 marks.

Even when not involved with any form of screening, Murray-Boyles has a knack for just working into available space and into the vision of his teammate with the ball. I like how he moves into vacant space as the defense goes into rotation starting at the 3:34 mark. Not panicking and staying available for a drop pass from a double team starting at the 7:03 mark is also a good example of being in space.

As a post player, Murray-Boyles shows a lot of polish for such a young prospect. Despite missing both attempts starting at the 1:27 and 2:04 marks, he demonstrates patience and poise when working with his back to the basket. Comfortable attempting hook shots from either hand – Murray-Boyles is lefthanded – I am less concerned about the result and more interested in the process he takes to get those shots off. Neither is a bad attempt they just did not fall.

I am not concerned with the results because finishing was not a problem for him last season. Per Hoop-Math, Murray-Boyles took 72.4% of his attempts at the rim and converted 66.9% of them, a very strong mark. One of the drivers behind his success around the basket was how well he leveraged his frame to ward off defenders when finishing through contact. That was evident when watching sequences starting at the 3:34 and 4:18 marks.

Another aspect of Murray-Boyles’ offensive skill set that stands out is how well he operates in traffic, particularly when crashing the offensive glass. Again, he uses his frame well and consistently fights for position. Powerful when jumping off both feet with good length despite being more of an undersized power forward, Murray-Boyles puts that on full display with sequences starting at the :32, 1:57, 3:52, and 6:46 marks.

He averaged 5.7 rebounds per game last year, which was not bad but certainly not a stellar mark either. Murray-Boyles did not start every game last season and only averaged 22.8 minutes per game. Both of those things contributed to his rather pedestrian rebounds per game average. But as I said, Murray-Boyles makes an impact on the offensive boards and his 12% offensive rebound percentage ranked 3rd in the SEC. Additionally, his overall rebounding percentage of 14.7% ranked 5th in the conference. If Murray-Boyles plays closer to 30 minutes per game this year, his per game rebounding numbers are going to look a lot better.

It remains to be seen if you can run your offense through him for long stretches, but it is evident that he can and will make relatively good decisions with the ball in his hands when passing out of the post, per the sequence starting at the :06 mark.

Playing out on the perimeter is another story. Murray-Boyles attempted just five three-pointers last season. While he does appear to be comfortable handling the ball along the perimeter, his lack of range allows his immediate defender to sag off him and it does force hard closeouts. Furthermore, the defenders in help can play passing lanes more aggressively knowing that Murray-Boyles is not going to hurt them from the perimeter with a deep jump shot. The turnover starting at the 1:02 mark is not the worst decision but speaks to what I just described.

In terms of the impact he can have on the offensive end of the floor even when he does not score is captured perfectly in the sequence starting at the 4:37 mark. You can see Murray-Boyles directly traffic, moving well without the ball (especially after the unused screen), vision and passing ability, and work on the offensive glass.

Of course there is another end of the floor as well. An area that he is going to need to make more strides in if he wants to firmly establish himself as a 1st round pick next year.

When Murray-Boyles is disciplined on closeouts, keeping a solid base to maintain balance and initial directional burst, he can be quite effective at the collegiate level. Two consecutive examples of that start at the :15 mark. But he does get in trouble when he bites on moves and overcommits when defending on the perimeter – 3:44 and 5:10 marks. It will serve Murray-Boyles well that he is a solid help defender and rotates with purpose to contest shots at the rim, per the sequences starting at the 3:11 and 4:07 marks.

Given his age and offensive polish, he brings a lot to the table that NBA front offices value. But as an undersized power forward that is not the most vertical athlete, Murray-Boyles does not possess the highest ceiling, and it is hard to envision him playing himself into the lottery. His lack of a perimeter game on both ends is the biggest limiter to that. That said, there is always a place for guys that know how to put the ball in the basket that are plus rebounders and are not black holes when the ball gets thrown to them.