NBA draft night was big for Collin Murray-Boyles, and it was big for Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks. 

As Murray-Boyles walked across the stage to shake hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, he became the first Gamecock ever drafted in the lottery. The Columbia native is headed to Toronto after being selected with the ninth pick in the first round. 

“ Toronto was my first team that I worked out for,” Murray-Boyles said during his post-draft press conference. “That was like a surreal moment to hear my name called and by this organization that has a good history and has really good players. Obviously thankful for the opportunity that they give me and taking it full on. I'm ready to do whatever they need me to do.” 

Murray-Boyles spent two seasons in the garnet and black and will now head up north of the border. As a Gamecock, Murray-Boyles appeared in 60 games and averaged 13.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. 

During his Gamecock career, Murray-Boyles was a part of one of the most successful Gamecock teams of all time and one of the least successful. 

His freshman year, the team finished in the top five of the SEC standings and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since making the final four in 2017. 

His sophomore year, South Carolina struggled, finishing last in the SEC with a 2-16 conference record. While the team struggled, Murray-Boyles still managed to shine and draw the attention of scouts around the league. 

“ Teams go through good days and they go through good months where they win a lot of games, and then next month, it could be in a snap of a finger where you go on a drought and you don't win any games,” Murray-Boyles said. ”A lot of people don't really get that opportunity to go have a historical season and then have one of the worst seasons. I think having both really helps me.”

Murray-Boyles was praised for his defense and physicality throughout the draft process. Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor compared him to established NBA players Draymond Green and Julius Randle. 

His biggest question mark is his shooting. Murray-Boyles shot just 23% from beyond the arc during his Gamecock career. 

“ Obviously, everybody talked about the shot, but that's something that I've been fine-tuning for these past couple of months. I'm really just trying to get it to that point where it's consistent and I'm confident with it as of right now,” Murray-Boyles said. 

Murray-Boyles is now the second Gamecock drafted to the NBA in the Lamont Paris era. He joins former No. 1 overall high school recruit G.G. Jackson, who was selected in the second round of the 2023 draft by Memphis. 

He is the highest-picked Gamecock in the modern draft era and is the third-highest pick all time. Gary Gregor was the eighth pick in the 1968 draft, and Tom Riker went eighth in 1972.

Murray-Boyles will now begin preparations for the upcoming NBA summer league and team training camp. When asked how he sees his NBA playing out, Murray-Boyles said he just wants to find his spot. 

“It's all about finding your spot at the end of the day,” he said. “Just finding what you can do to impact the team gives the coaches more trust in what you can do. So just finding out what that is early on and then building on top of that is gonna be very, very important for my growth.”