Lamont Paris reveals growth he saw from South Carolina in Year 1

South Carolina‘s season was the first to come to an end at the SEC Tournamenty following a heartbreaking 67-61 loss to Ole Miss. The defeat ended Lamont Paris’ first season at the helm of the Gamecocks’ program, and he evaluated the job he was able to do with the pieces he had.

“It’s hard to describe how much growth that there was this year,” Paris said postgame. “I keep saying that word, but I’ve never been around so much growth in my life in one season. So I’m happy about that and thankful for that, but there’s a lot of foundation that’s been laid. … We get judged on wins and losses certainly, but I’m evaluating it differently.

“I evaluate it on a day-to-day basis. In our practices leading up to this tournament, I’d say the last five, six, seven practices were incredible. Not just from energy, when you talk about growth, me looking as a coach, acknowledgment of things, listening to something and then putting it right in, making a tweak against a team that we’re playing for the third time and only having to say it once.”

Paris wasn’t dissapointed after losing to the Rebels. He was actually pleased with the fight his team showed, which was clear from the raw emotion on some of his player’s faces after the final buzzer.

Overall, however, South Carolina’s 2022-23 campaign was nothing to write home about. An 11-21 overall record and 4-14 in the SEC, the only feather in Paris’s cap is the fact that he was able to lead his Gamecocks to a 71-68 win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena in January.

Even though South Carolina’s season is over, you can still catch up with day two of the SEC Tournament here. The winners of Thursday’s games will advance to the quarterfinals to try and knock off the top-four seeded teams.