South Carolina veteran guard enters NCAA transfer portal

The South Carolina Men’s basketball team should add a veteran guard to their team’s needs after shooting guard Erik Stevenson entered the transfer portal. According to On3’s Matt Zenitz, Stevenson has elected to enter the transfer portal on Wednesday afternoon.

The six-foot-four senior from Lacey, WA, transferred to South Carolina before the start of last season from Washington. In his lone season with the Gamecocks, Stevenson was second on the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game, and assist with 2.8 a game. Oddly enough, he was also tied with forward Wildens Leveque in average rebounds per game at 4.7.

This season South Carolina finished with an 18-13 record and 9-9 in conference play in what would be longtime head coach Frank Martin’s last season at the helm. And with both Martin and Stevenson gone, the Gamecocks will need to find leadership on the bench and the court.

South Carolina hires Lamont Paris

According to a Monday report, South Carolina has hired their next head coach in Lamont Paris, the former coach of Chattanooga. The report indicates that Paris and the Gamecocks have finalized a five-year coaching deal already, although the announcement has not yet been made official.

“South Carolina and Chattanooga coach Lamont Paris have finalized a five-year deal to make him the school’s next head coach,” stated ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “Paris led Chattanooga to a 27-8 record this season and the school’s first NCAA bid since 2016.”

South Carolina’s dismissed head coach Frank Martin after ten seasons with the team, opening the coaching search in earnest for the school. On Monday, a report surfaced South Carolina had “zeroed in” on Paris as their next head coach. That report appears to have been further verified with the length of his contract.

After spending the past five seasons with the Chattanooga Mocs as his first-ever head coaching job, Paris will now have his first one inside of a Power Six conference with South Carolina.

Paris took over at Chattanooga during the 2017-2018 season, going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time this past season. The Mocs won the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament championship before facing off against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Round of 64. Even with an early exit, it was the program’s first appearance in March Madness since 2016.