Lamont Paris opens up on South Carolina's progress, being 'ahead of schedule'

South Carolina was predicted to finish last in the SEC ahead of the season following an 11–21 finish with just four SEC wins last season in year one under new head coach Lamont Paris. But instead Paris helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years, boasting a 26-7 record ahead of their first round matchup against Oregon this Thursday.

There’s no question that the Gamecocks overachieved this season and exceeded expectations, which Paris reflected on during Selection Sunday.

“I think it’s awesome, I think it says we’ve got the right people,” Paris said. “I think that’s what it says more than anything, it doesn’t say that the plays I run are the best plays on planet Earth, but it says that we have the right people around this program.”

“That’s everything from our coaches, our staff, to our players, certainly most importantly to our players, to our administration, to everybody that has poured into making this happen as quickly as it has.”

Paris was named as South Carolina’s head man in March of 2022 following an impressive turnaround of the Tennessee-Chattanooga program. With the Mocs winning just 10 games in his first season and four years later making the NCAA Tournament after securing a conference regular season and tournament title.

In Columbia, the turnaround was much quicker. Highlighted by suffering just one non-conference loss and ending conference play with a 13-5 record, which included three wins over ranked conference opponents this season. Earning a six-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which even came as a little bit of a surprise to Paris himself.

“We have a good way about us, our culture is exactly where we want it to be. We’re ahead of schedule probably,” Paris admitted.

“Again, I didn’t think it was a six-year process to get to the NCAA Tournament. I also said one day I aspire that our fans would just be so ho-hum for us to get to the NCAA Tournament, that they’ll only judge us by how many times we advance in the tournament. And we’re still working on that, but this certainly in year two is the first step in that,” Paris concluded.

Paris took home SEC and AP Coach of the Year honors following his impressive turnaround, more than doubling South Carolina’s win total in a season that will be remembered for quite some time in Columbia. But a legitimate run in March Madness would only add to the standout season for the Gamecocks, which starts on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET against Oregon in a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup airing on TNT.