NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 30 in 2023-24 season
By Joey Loose
5. Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina)
Considered among the Top 100 prospects of this most recent recruiting class, it wouldn’t have been shocking to see Murray-Boyles land somewhere else, but the native of Columbia stayed right at home with the Gamecocks. His freshman season at South Carolina would be immensely productive, and we’re not just talking about personal stats, but a giant step forward for this basketball program.
Murray-Boyles accumulated 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds a game while making 61% of his 2-point attempts for the Gamecocks. He established himself as one of the SEC’s top freshman and was one of the most highly rated players in the conference, contributing on both sides of the ball. Though he did miss the first month of the season, Murray-Boyles certainly made up for it and was playing truly inspired basketball by season’s end.
It took a few weeks on the court for Murray-Boyles to find his groove, but the Gamecocks certainly felt his impact during league play. He stunned with a 31-point performance against Vanderbilt, part of a February full of high-scoring affairs. He’d drop 24 points on Arkansas during the SEC Tournament before helping guide the Gamecocks to the Big Dance for the first time in seven years.