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South Carolina, Lamont Paris agree to contract extension, $4 million salary through 2030

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•03/14/24
NCAA Basketball: South Carolina at Arkansas
Jan 20, 2024; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Lamont Paris during the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

Following a wildly successful second season under coach Lamont Paris, South Carolina has reportedly agreed on a contract extension for the head man.

ESPN reports that the Gamecocks will extend the SEC Coach of the Year through the 2029-30 season, paying Paris an average of more than $4 million annually. The deal is pending board approval that is set to be decided on Friday. GamecockCentral.com confirmed the news.

Paris is coming off a season in which his squad showed remarkable improvement.

The Gamecocks went 11-21 during his first season in charge, which included a 4-14 mark in conference play. This year the squad improved to 25-6 overall and finished tied for second place in the SEC with a 13-5 league record.

The nine game improvement in conference record was the biggest jump for any team at the Power Six conference level this season, edging out LSU.

And Paris’ squad has designs on making a deep NCAA Tournament run. First they’ll get a crack at the SEC Tournament as the No. 5 seed, opening play on Thursday.

“We want to win the SEC Tournament, there’s a lot that goes with that,” Lamont Paris said Wednesday on the Paul Finebaum Show. “But I think it’s a good precursor to the NCAA Tournament just in terms of there’s nothing guaranteed other than the game we play tomorrow at 2:30. And you must play well, you must compete well and you must also make plays in order to advance. And if you do enough of those things and you earn another 40 minutes, then you do it all again.”

Paris arrived at South Carolina after spending five seasons in charge at UT-Chattanooga. While coaching there he had an 87-72 overall record, including a 65-29 mark in his final three seasons.

In 2021-22 he led the Mocs to their first Southern Conference title and first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016. Chattanooga finished with a 27-8 record.

As a result, Paris was named one of 20 finalists for the Hugh Durham Award, given annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.

Lamont Paris had previous stints as an assistant at Wisconsin, Akron, IUP, DePauw and Wooster.