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Chattanooga hires Lamont Paris as next head coach

Lamont Paris, an assistant at Wisconsin for the last seven years under both Bo Ryan and Greg Gard, has been hired as the next head coach at Chattanooga. This is the first head coaching gig for Paris, an Ohio-native that has been very instrumental in the success of the Badgers’ program this decade.

During his time in Madison, the Badgers were 189-66 overall and made six Sweet Sixteens (plus two Final Fours). As associate head coach, Paris was the “right hand man” to Gard, playing a major role in everything from game prep to recruiting.

“I’m excited for this new chapter of my career,” Paris said in a release on Monday, “but I am so thankful and grateful for the opportunity I had at the University of Wisconsin.”

Paris will look to build on the success of previous head coach Matt McCall, who became the head coach at UMass last week. McCall led the program for two years after his predecessor, Will Wade, left for VCU in 2015. Wade was hired last month at LSU, making the Chattanooga job a pretty solid starting point for young coaches this decade.