Lamont Paris shares inspiring message with South Carolina football team
South Carolina men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris orchestrated the biggest turnaround in program history last season and that story is one Shane Beamer shared with his football team at the beginning of preseason camp.
Much like with the Gamecock football team this offseason, there were not high expectations for Paris’ basketball team heading into Year 2. In fact, the SEC media picked South Carolina to finish dead last in the conference, something Paris vehemently disagreed with even before the season tipped off.
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Paris, though, was ultimately vindicated. After an 11-21 first season, he led his team to a 25-6 mark in regular season play and an NCAA Tournament berth in Year 2, while earning SEC Coach of the Year honors from both the media and coaches.
Beamer’s Gamecocks weren’t predicted to finish last by the media but it was close. Last month’s SEC Media Days were completed with South Carolina listed 13th among 16 SEC teams.
With obvious parallels between expectations for the two teams, Paris dropped by football practice earlier this week to share a message, which @GamecockFB shared on Twitter/X.
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“The team always prevails,” Paris says in the video. “The team prevails. And again, the only thing I want to say is, no one matters — no one’s opinion matters outside of this (group). Anything outside of this, is only noise. It’s only a distraction.
“You either believe and you compete or you perish. My suggestion is to believe and to compete. You’ve got a great coach. You’ve developed a great culture. Now all it is, let that coin toss, and go out there and do your thing. Go Cocks! Let’s do it, baby!”
Beamer and the Gamecocks are 15 days away from their season opener against Old Dominion, which is set for 4:15 at Williams-Brice Stadium on Aug. 31.
South Carolina will complete its second and final scrimmage of preseason camp this Saturday afternoon.
