Coach of the Week: Lamont Paris, South Carolina Gamecocks
Year 1 in Columbia was a difficult one for Paris, who led Chattanooga to the NCAA tournament in 2022 and then moved to the SEC and promptly finished 11-21 overall, 4-14 in the league. There was little reason for optimism entering Year 2, with GG Jackson leaving for the NBA and the Gamecocks picked 14th in the preseason SEC poll.
However, South Carolina has come out of nonconference play with a 12-1 record, including wins away from home over Grand Canyon and Virginia Tech, and the lone loss coming at Clemson. There isn't a lot of heft behind that record, but it's already more wins than last season, which represents a huge step forward. Paris is doing more than that, though. SC won its first league game of the season Saturday, taking down Mississippi State by six. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and controlled most of the first half, but the Gamecocks, behind 24 points from Meechie Johnson, made a run in the second half and kept Mississippi State at an arm's length for most of the final 10 minutes.
Is South Carolina for real? It's still too early to tell, but the Gamecocks are clearly better than last season, and Paris has done an unbelievable job turning things around from a year ago.
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Year 1 in Columbia was a difficult one for Paris, who led Chattanooga to the NCAA tournament in 2022 and then moved to the SEC and promptly finished 11-21 overall, 4-14 in the league. There was little reason for optimism entering Year 2, with GG Jackson leaving for the NBA and the Gamecocks picked 14th in the preseason SEC poll.
However, South Carolina has come out of nonconference play with a 12-1 record, including wins away from home over Grand Canyon and Virginia Tech, and the lone loss coming at Clemson. There isn't a lot of heft behind that record, but it's already more wins than last season, which represents a huge step forward. Paris is doing more than that, though. SC won its first league game of the season Saturday, taking down Mississippi State by six. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and controlled most of the first half, but the Gamecocks, behind 24 points from Meechie Johnson, made a run in the second half and kept Mississippi State at an arm's length for most of the final 10 minutes.
Is South Carolina for real? It's still too early to tell, but the Gamecocks are clearly better than last season, and Paris has done an unbelievable job turning things around from a year ago.
Men's Power Rankings: So how good, really, is Houston?
As conference play begins, strengths are being confirmed and weaknesses are being exposed. Which means we have some new teams in the top 16.
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