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Lamont Paris claims Collin Murray-Boyles received multi-million dollar transfer offer from SEC program
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Lamont Paris is working to rebuild his South Carolina roster after a last-place finish in the SEC basketball standings this year. However, he may face an uphill battle, including a fight to keep his best player.
According to SEC Network host Peter Burns, Paris revealed on Monday that a rival SEC program delivered a major offer to Collin Murray-Boyles to enter the transfer portal. Murray-Boyles led the Gamecocks in scoring (16.8), rebounding (8.3), blocks (1.3) and steals (1.5) this year while adding 2.4 assists and shooting 58.6% from the floor.
Paris claimed the offer to Murray-Boyles was $2.5 million. The head coach also clarified it was “a school that was in the (NCAA) Tournament” to extend the offer. Considering South Carolina and LSU were the only SEC programs not to make the Big Dance, it’s hard to nail down the specific school any further.
Technically, tampering — offering players on another team’s roster — is against the rules, but head coaches far and wide have described the portal as open season and a free market. That is certainly still playing itself out, according to Lamont Paris’s comments, and it will be interesting to see how it shapes the outlook for the 2025-26 season.
At this point, there has not been any indication that Murray-Boyles has any thoughts of transferring. However, it’s unclear if he will be in college basketball at all, with ESPN including the Gamecock star as a fringe lottery pick in their latest NBA mock draft.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
