Multiple 2025 NBA Draft mocks include South Carolina basketball star in 1st round

The 2024 NBA Draft began on Wednesday night (it finishes on Thursday), but basketball outlets already have published way-too-early 2025 NBA Draft projections. South Carolina basketball fans will be interested in these mock drafts as there have been multiple that have predicted a Gamecock star to be an early selection.

According to CBS Sports duo Adam Finklestein and Travis Branham and NBA Draft Room, South Carolina basketball star sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles will be a 1st round pick in next year's NBA Draft.

Finklestein and Branham have the talented forward going with the 13th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to the Atlanta Hawks.

NBA Draft Room has Murray-Boyles slotted as the 10th pick, the second end of back-to-back picks by the San Antonio Spurs.

Seeing Murray-Boyles projected in the top half of the 1st round is not all that surprising.

The Columbia native is a dynamic athlete, but at 6'7" and 240 pounds with long arms, he has a big frame that allows him to play stronger than many other basketball athletes at his height. That combination of strength, length, and athleticism gives him positional versatility, and he could see time at either forward spot at the next level and might be able to provide a few small-ball center minutes for an NBA team in certain situations like he has at South Carolina.

The biggest potential issue that could hold him back from being a high draft choice is shooting. Murray-Boyles was a solid 3-point shooter as a senior in high school, and he showed that ability during the summer leading into his freshman year in Columbia.

However, after battling mononucleosis in the fall, his time away from the court made his jumper rusty, so he didn't shoot much away from the basket during his freshman campaign. If he can regain his confidence in his jump shot as a sophomore, his draft stock (and his South Carolina basketball team) will be better for it.

As much as Gamecock fans would love to see Collin Murray-Boyles play all four years in garnet and black, if he is good enough this season to be a 1st-round pick, it will mean good things for Carolina's hopes of a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.