Freshman forward ‘out indefinitely’ for South Carolina men’s basketball team
South Carolina men’s basketball will start its season without one of its top local players this season.
The program announced Wednesday that freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles will be “out indefinitely” with mono. He also didn’t attend the Garnet & Black Madness open practice night last week. Murray-Boyles is one of four freshmen on this season’s roster and USC’s highest-ranked signee.
Mono, also called mononucleosis, is a viral infection that causes fatigue and other flu-like symptoms that resolve in days or weeks, depending on the severity.
The four-star forward recruit and No. 90 overall player in the Class of 2023 spent his senior year at Wasatch Academy in Utah, where he played in the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference. Murray-Boyles led his team averaging 15 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He was named to The Athletic’s Top 20 college basketball freshmen list this season, and was the No. 6 impact freshman in the SEC for On3 Sports.
Before that, he played locally at AC Flora High School in Columbia. Murray-Boyles led the Falcons to a 24-7 record his junior year and played in the state championship game. He was named the 2022 4A South Carolina Player of the Year.
Head coach Lamont Paris said during the team’s local media day he believed Murray-Boyles, along with fellow freshman Arden Conyers, came into preseason “ahead of the game” both in their basketball IQ and their physicality.
Following the exhibition win over Wofford on Wednesday night, Paris said Murray-Boyles’ absence was a big loss for the team schematically. Murray-Boyles spent time with his family during his recovery, Paris said, and came back to attend the exhibition.
“It changes everything for us,” Paris said, “to be quite honest with you. He’s one of our most physical guys. He certainly is, I think, our best athlete. He’s young, but he’s a competitive guy. He’s not afraid of physicality.”
This story was originally published November 1, 2023 at 11:16 AM.
