Toronto Raptors make Gamecocks’ Collin Murray-Boyles a Top 10 NBA Draft pick
For the first time in 20 years, a University of South Carolina basketball player was taken in the first round of the NBA Draft.
The Toronto Raptors selected Gamecocks forward Collin Murray-Boyles with the ninth overall pick on Wednesday during the first night of the 2025 NBA Draft. Murray-Boyles is the first Gamecock taken in the first round since Ronaldo Balkman went to the New York Knicks with the 20th overall pick in 2006.
He’s the second-highest-drafted Gamecock in program history, behind only Tom Riker, who went No. 8 in 1972 NBA Draft. He’s also the first lottery pick in school history. The draft lottery began in 1985 and is for the top 14 picks.
Murray-Boyles attended the draft in person at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
“Thankful. Crazy to be here. Surreal moment for me and my family,” Murray-Boyles told reporters in Brooklyn. “I’m from South Carolina, so that is really important to me staying home. Something that has grown with me since being there. I’m thankful for the accolade of being the first lottery pick. But I want to be one of the best.”
His first rookie contract could be upwards of $30 million, according to SpotTrac. The total value for ninth overall pick under the NBA rookie scale is $28.8 million., which includes a third and fourth-year option. But first-round picks can sign for as low as 80% of the rookie scale or as high as 120% of that mark.
He was surrounded at the table Wednesday by his mother Yvonne, father Sean, brother James, his grandma and girlfriend Chloe Kitts, a standout on USC women’s team who is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Kitts was wearing a Raptors hat shortly after the selection.
USC special assistant Carey Rich as well as his high school coaches, former high school teammates and family members also were in attendance in Brooklyn with Murray-Boyles.
In an ESPN interview, he thanked his family, friends and South Carolina fans for his basketball journey.
“Thanks for all of it. Gamecock Nation, thank you for every single love y’all gave me,” he said.
Murray-Boyles is the fourth Gamecock to be drafted since 2000 but second in three years. GG Jackson went to the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2023 draft.
Murray-Boyles attended A.C. Flora High School in Columbia by played his senior year at Wasatch Academy in Utah. His NBA stock rose when he arrived at South Carolina in 2023 and became a two-year starter for the Gamecocks, earning second-team All-Southeastern Conference honors this past season.
“A versatile, long arm defender that is really the lead story with Collin Murray-Boyles,” ESPN college basketball and NBA analyst Jay Bilas said on the ESPN telecast. “He is an outstanding defender with incredible awareness. He is just relentless defensively. He is good around the post, good around the rim and we talked about the finishing. He is a good offensive rebounder but defensively is where he set himself apart.”
Murray-Boyles in college
In 2024-25, Murray-Boyles was one of the lone bright spots in the Gamecocks’ 12-win, 20-loss season. He averaged 16.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals and was a second-team All-SEC selection. Murray-Boyles and Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson were the only players in Power 5 leagues to average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block per game while shooting better than 50% from the field.
Most mock drafts had Murray-Boyles going between pick Nos. 10-20 and none had him going to Toronto. He said he interviewed with the Raptors at the NBA Combine last month.
NBA teams have been calling USC coach Lamont Paris as recently as a few days ago to gauge his opinion of the forward. The coach on Monday said he told teams to draft Murray-Boyles based on his floor, not on his potential.
Paris believes Murray-Boyles will be capable of helping an NBA team immediately because of his versatility on both sides of the floor. He also said he had to make Murray-Boyles shoot the ball at times, so he isn’t going to need to score 20 points or more in a game to be an effective player in the league.
“If you need him to play in a game relatively soon, then you take him,” Paris said. “I think he is rugged, sturdy, strong. He defends at an elite level and he knows how to play basketball at such a high level when you surround him with really good teammates.
“... Some guys average 22 (points) in a college game and someone asks them to six points a game in the NBA. Stand in a corner and make this when they double-team Steph Curry. That role could be hard to make the transition. But that is who Collin is already. He already is a server, a servant as a teammate. He just happened to be our most talented guy.”
Gamecocks drafted in the NBA
A list of players who finished their careers at South Carolina and were drafted in the NBA with overall selection and team who selected them:
2025: 9. Collin Murray-Boyles, Toronto Raptors
2023: 45. GG Jackson, Memphis Grizzlies
2017: 48. Sindarius Thornwell, Milwaukee Bucks (traded to Los Angeles Clippers)
2006: 20. Renaldo Balkman, New York Knicks
1998: 48. Ryan Stack, Cleveland Cavaliers
1994: 47. Jamie Watson, Utah Jazz
1987: 144. Michael Foster, Cleveland Cavaliers
1986: 140. Duane Kendall, New York Knicks
1985: 29. Mike Brittain, San Antonio Spurs
1984: 102. Jim Foster, Kansas City Kings
1984: 182. Brad Jergenson, Milwaukee Bucks
1981: 51. Zam Frederick, Los Angeles Lakers
1980: 110. Mike Doyle, Atlanta Hawks
1980: 184. Jim Graziano, Denver Nuggets
1979: 49. Credrick Hordges, Chicago Bulls (traded to Denver Nuggets)
1979: 135. Jim Strickland, New Jersey Nets
1978: 111. Golie Augustus, New Jersey Nets
1978: 148. Jack Gilloon, Denver Nuggets
1977: 101. Nate Davis, Chicago Bulls
1976: 23. Alex English, Milwaukee Bucks
1976: 99. Mike Dunleavy Sr., Philadelphia 76ers
1975: 17. Tom Boswell, Boston Celtics
1974: 12. Brian Winters, Los Angeles Lakers
1973: 11. Kevin Joyce, Golden State Warriors
1973: 82. Danny Traylor, Baltimore Bullets
1972: 8. Tom Riker, New York Knicks
1971: 14. John Roche, Phoenix Suns
1971: 58. Tom Owens, Houston Rockets
1971: 129. John Ribock, Boston Celtics
1968: 13. Skip Harlicka, St. Louis Hawks
1968: 33. Jack Thompson, Baltimore Bullets
1968: 169. Frank Standard, St. Louis Hawks
1967: 24. Gary Gregor, New York Knicks
1967: 32. Al Salvadori, Baltimore Bullets
1967: 134. Lyn Burkholder, Baltimore Bullets
1965: 67. Jim Fox, Cincinnati Royals
1962: 38. Lindbergh Moody, Detroit Pistons
1962: 42. Art Whisnant, Los Angeles Lakers
1957: 40. Grady Wallace, Boston Celtics
1951: 32. Jim Slaughter, Tri-Cities Blackhawks
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM.
