As an assistant, Lamont Paris played a role on the Wisconsin teams that made major waves and Final Four runs in 2014 and 2015. As a head coach, he led some great teams and made the Big Dance with Chattanooga before taking the South Carolina job back in 2022. With the Gamecocks, the road hasn’t been easy, but he led this program to 26 wins, 2nd place in the SEC and a trip to the Big Dance in just his second season.
Unfortunately for Paris it’s been the other seasons where the issues have arisen. He’s now completed four seasons in Columbia and even including that great 26-8 campaign his record is under .500 as South Carolina’s coach. His debut was a tough 11-win season before that breakthrough, but the Gamecocks finished dead last in the SEC in 2025 and weren’t much better last year.
The Gamecocks roster
The impressive work from Meechie Johnson, B. J. Mack, and Collin Murray-Boyles among others was a big reason for South Carolina’s rise in 2024. The SEC has been on another level in recent years, with nearly every team seemingly taking large steps forward at times. After all, the following season saw 14 of the league’s 16 teams make trips to the NCAA Tournament, with these Gamecocks one of those two sitting outside.
South Carolina just hasn’t had the right combination in recent years and it’s fair to wonder if this year will be that much better. Johnson’s eligibility is finished and he’s far from the only notable Gamecock leaving town, with Kobe Knox, Mike Sharavjamts and several others gone after another disappointing season in Columbia.
Instead, the Gamecocks are leaning heavily on a new crop of transfers, notably former Wisconsin forward Aleksas Bieliauskas, who showed great promise as a freshman last year. The backcourt gets new potential in Davion Hannah from Alabama and also adds Kory Mincy from George Mason and Shane Blakeney from Drexel, two solid mid-major juniors who averaged 14 points a game and hope to make great statements in their senior years.
Plenty of issues
The biggest program for Paris and South Carolina is the rest of the SEC. Florida won the national title one year ago and Auburn was in that Final Four. Alabama has been a monster the last half decade. Arkansas looks fantastic, Kentucky is Kentucky, Texas has great potential, and Tennessee has made three straight Elite Eight’s. The Gamecocks really do look like a small fish in an enormous pond.
With that being said we’re not giving up on this program by any means. After all very few expected that breakthrough campaign in 2024, finishing above most of those programs we just mentioned in a strong SEC race. Their relevance is going to rely on someone like Mincy or a returner like Grant Polk really stepping into a major role and taking charge for this program.
Early projections won’t look too favorably on South Carolina and it’s fair to wonder how much leash Paris has left if this becomes another season in the cellar of the SEC. Could this team actually surprise people and compete in this very top-heavy conference? With the expansion of the NCAA Tournament, is there a path to seeing the Gamecocks in the field of 76?
Add us as a preferred source on Google