When the 2022 NCAA Tournament rolled around, Lamont Paris certainly asserted himself as a rising name in the coaching world, helming Chattanooga to the Big Dance with a SoCon championship. Just a few weeks later, Paris was off to South Carolina, taking over for Frank Martin. He certainly had hopes of turning the Gamecocks into a more regular contender in the SEC after just one Tourney appearance in the last decade.
After just 11 wins in his debut in Columbia, Paris achieved that feat in his second season, leading a surprisingly competitive South Carolina squad to 26 wins, a tie for 2nd in the SEC, and an NCAA Tournament trip. Unfortunately, that success did not continue into this past season, a trend indicative of the current state of college basketball.
South Carolina is coming off a really rough season. The Gamecocks finished just 12-20 and ended up dead last in the SEC standings, alone in 16th place. It’s not just that it was a free fall after a promising 2024, but a record 14 SEC teams made the Big Dance and this program was one of just two in the league who missed out. South Carolina became a relative punching bag and again a low man on the totem pole.
Leading scorer Collin Murray-Boyles heads to the draft after a major role on campus these last two seasons. The Gamecocks lost significant talent to the transfer portal, notably seeing starting forward Nick Pringle head to conference rival Arkansas. Very few minutes will return and Paris certainly finds himself rebuilding with hopes of getting this program back on track in a hurry, something that’s certainly possible with this era of the portal and NIL.
None of South Carolina’s transfer additions jump off the page and the class as a whole isn’t exactly in anyone’s rankings for this offseason. However, Paris and his staff did add talent and are hoping to get this thing back on track leaning on pieces like Meechie Johnson Jr., a former Gamecock guard transferring back again from Ohio State, and Mike Sharavjamts, a talented forward now on his fourth school in four years.
When the Gamecocks made the Big Dance and had their awesome run in 2024, we weren’t exactly expecting such a performance from this program. It’s entirely possible that South Carolina added the right pieces and can do something similar again, but the road isn’t easy. More than 80% of this conference is fresh off the NCAA Tournament and there’s a significant influx of talent into this league, especially at schools like Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky, and national champion Florida.
The seat for Paris was quite cold after year two but it starts heating up after things really bottomed out last season. It’s important to remember that the Gamecocks stuck with Martin for an entire decade, but he did lead the program to the Final Four in 2017. We’re not saying Paris needs to do anything crazy like that but a change in Columbia in 2026 wouldn’t be shocking if this is a repeat of last season. Can Paris and this squad surprise in the months ahead?