Future first-rounder? Gamecocks forward trending as early pick in next year’s NBA Draft

With this year’s NBA Draft in the books, it’s not too early to start talking about 2025.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the consensus to go as the No. 1 overall pick next year, but South Carolina Gamecock sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles could also hear his name called in the first round, according to early 2025 NBA mock drafts.

CBS Sports has Murray-Boyles going in the lottery (first 15 picks) to Atlanta at No. 13, while ESPN has him at No. 23 to Oklahoma City. SBNation has him ranked as the 18th-best prospect in the draft.

There hasn’t been a player who finished his career at USC to go in the first round since Renaldo Balkman in 2006. Devin Carter, who started his career with the Gamecocks but ended at Providence, went in the first round this year to Sacramento.

“Murray-Boyles (6-foot-7, 231 pounds) enjoyed one of college basketball’s under-the-radar breakouts, playing a productive role as an 18-year-old freshman for a South Carolina team that made the NCAA tournament,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givonny wrote. “By the end of the season, he had created NBA intrigue, with a strong feel for the game and a solid motor driving his success despite a somewhat unorthodox profile as an undersized big. ... Murray-Boyles’ impressive efficiency and ability to generate steals and blocks on the defensive end — all at a young age for his level — has made him a player teams, particularly in analytics-driven front offices, are monitoring closely.”

Murray-Boyles thought about going through the NBA Draft process after his freshman season but told The State at the SEC Tournament in March that he was returning to South Carolina.

“Of course you have people talking,” he said. “Like my brother, he’ll be talking about it and stuff. I want to be ready. I don’t wanna go in, get a contract and then have to go to the (NBA G-League) because I have to work on a couple things. I want to go in as prepared as possible so I can have the best chance of longevity.”

Murray-Boyles, a Columbia native who played at A.C. Flora High School before finishing up at Wasatch Academy in Utah, certainly began last season as a secret. He missed the first month of his college career battling mono and didn’t see the floor until December, slowly building up his workload into SEC play.

Murray-Boyles started the final 19 games for the Gamecocks, averaging 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a block in earning first-team all-Southeastern Conference honors. The Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.