Lamont Paris makes first comments on South Carolina portal additions
South Carolina officially announced the addition of two transfers Wednesday afternoon, and Lamont Paris spoke for the first time about each.
The Gamecocks’ head coach Lamont Paris broke down each of the new transfers–Stephen Clark and Ta’Lon Cooper–speaking with Heath Cline on 107.5 FM Wednesday evening.
Both come to South Carolina with one year of eligibility left, and Paris likes the experience level each brings.
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“These are two experienced guys that have been around that that know how to handle bad calls from the officials. Me saying something that they don’t like to hear their parents saying something that they didn’t want to hear,” Paris said.
“They’ve been around. They know what college basketball is like. They’re also selfless guys that are capable but don’t have to have things centered around themselves. They’re really good human beings, good teammates, just great guys for the locker room on top of all that.”
Clark is the most recent commitment, announcing it earlier this week. He comes over after averaging 16.3 points and 6.5 rebounds last season for the Bulldogs.
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The 6-foot-8 forward shot 49.2 percent from the field, 22.4 percent from three, while averaging 1.8 blocks per game.
“He’s a really, long versatile guy. I like guys that can guard a lot of different guys and do a lot of different things offensively. He hasn’t been a great shooter but I’m interested in seeing what that looks like,” Paris said.
“He’s pretty confident in his shot. He’s a really long, athletic guy. (He’s a) Sneaky athlete who blocks a lot of shots. Again, very versatile and a really good kid. He’s an experienced guy that’s played a ton of minutes in his college career.”
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Cooper committed to the Gamecocks last week, returning to his home state after starting his career at Morehead State and playing last season at Minnesota.
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The 6-foot-4 point guard averaged 9.8 points on 39.5 percent shooting (37.8 percent from three) and finished top 10 nationally in assists per game (6.3).
He’s coming into South Carolina for a chance to run the point and move the offense forward.
“Ta’Lon Cooper is originally from the state of South Carolina and then originally went to Morehead State and then transferred to the University of Minnesota this past year. But a big-time feel for the game of basketball,” Paris said.
“You know, I think he was seventh in the country in assists per game last year and that was on a team that didn’t shoot the ball particularly well at Minnesota. So those numbers are probably skewed a little lower than what they could have been. But another experienced guy who’s played a ton of minutes in his career.”
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Paris also likes Cooper’s leadership and ability to shoot when needed in the offense.
“He’s been a leader everywhere that he’s been. He played the most minutes of anyone on the team at Minnesota last year. He was a captain last year. So just a guy who’s been around…He also can shoot and score as well,” Paris said.
“I always talk about his passing because I think that’s uniquely good. And so you don’t talk about his scoring as much. In fact, I told him our first the first friction that he and I will ever have will be that I want him to probably shoot more than what he’s gonna want to shoot for himself.”
