OFFICIAL: Lamont Paris hired as head coach at South Carolina
After a few days of media reports, South Carolina officially announced Lamont Paris as the Gamecocks’ new head men’s basketball coach. Paris has been the head the coach at Chattanooga for the past five seasons, going 65-28 over the last three years (87-72 overall) and taking the Mocs to the NCAA Tournament this year after sweeping the SoCon titles.
“When we began this search, I said we wanted to hire someone with a winning coaching history, who has the energy, passion and commitment to excellence in all areas of the student-athlete experience,” AD Ray Tanner said. “Coach Paris checks all of those boxes. Lamont’s success on the court speaks for itself. He has recruited and developed talent at the highest level, helping Wisconsin reach the Final Four on two occasions, and has taken his experiences under some of the nation’s top coaches to build his own winning program at Chattanooga. Off the court, he is first-class person who will embrace our community and the Gamecock Family. We believe he is one of the bright young coaches in the profession and we are thrilled to have him lead our men’s basketball program.”
Paris was named SoCon COY this season, which was a culmination of a five-year arc within the program. After winning just 10 and 12 games in his first two seasons, the Mocs finished 27-8 (14-4) and returned to the NCAA Tournament where they nearly upset 4-seed Illinois last week.
“I am excited to be named the head coach at South Carolina,” said Paris. “The opportunity to build on what this program has achieved recently is exciting. While I am the head coach, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the many head and assistant coaches and student-athletes that I have worked with. I want Gamecock fans to know that we will have a program that you will be proud of and one that will compete for championships.”
The Gamecocks were last in the NCAA Tournament in 2017, when they made a surprise run to the Final Four as a 7-seed. Tanner parted ways with head coach Frank Martin earlier this month after ten seasons at the helm.
credit to South Carolina Athletics for the image
