South Carolina adds two basketball assistants

Lamont Paris has hired his first two official on-court assistants at South Carolina.

Paris will bring on board Tanner Bronson, who coached with Paris during his entire stint at UT-Chattanooga. South Carolina’s board of trustees approved Bronson’s contract officially Friday afternoon. Paris is also bringing Eddie Shannon with him, who was also on his staff at Chattanooga.

“I am extremely excited to announce these additions to my staff and cannot wait to have them put their fingerprints on Gamecock basketball,” said Paris.

“Tanner has been with me since day one of my head coaching career. He’s extremely talented as a teacher as well as an evaluator and a recruiter. His impact on building a championship team and culture was incredibly significant. As a former standout guard in the SEC, Eddie Shannon is extremely familiar with this league and what it takes to be successful. He does a tremendous job with our perimeter players, and is very familiar with our geographic footprint from a recruiting standpoint.”

He’s on a one-year deal expiring March 31, 2023 and will make $290,000 annually.

Bronson was an integral piece of Chattanooga’s turnaround under Paris where he helped Paris go from 10 wins in year one to 27 wins in year two.

Bronson was a G-League assistant coach for a couple of years. He served as a graduate manager at St. Louis before earning an on-court spot in 2012.

He was part of three NCAA Tournament teams with the Billikens, winning a game in all three tournaments. Bronson also worked at UNLV for a season as a program assistant before joining Paris in Chattanooga and now at South Carolina.

“I am extremely grateful to be joining Lamont Paris at the University of South Carolina,” said Bronson. “I want to thank Athletics Director Ray Tanner for his belief in coach Paris’ ability to build a winning program here in Columbia. This incredible institution along with Coach Paris’ vision is why I’m so excited to be a part of the Gamecock family.”

Shannon played at Florida at the start of the Billy Donovan era and is the Gators’ all-time steals leader and second in program history in assists.

He played 10 years overseas and coached at Palm Beach before coming to Chattanooga. He’s been a full-time assistant since 2016 before Paris arrived and maintained his role since.

“I’m honored and humbled to join Gamecock Nation,” said Shannon. “I’m so grateful to coach Paris for giving me this opportunity. I am here to work diligently and make the South Carolina community proud. Go Gamecocks!”

The Gamecocks have already made a support staff hire, announcing Carey Rich will come on as a special assistant to the head coach.

Rich won’t be involved in an on-court role this season. But he will be able to help Paris with anything he might need, including alumni relations and recruiting.

According to the release put out by South Carolina, Rich will help with a “variety of special projects, with heavy involvement in alumni relations, community outreach and recruiting efforts.”

“I’m very excited to have Carey joining my staff here at South Carolina,” Paris said in a statement. “He is so connected and well-respected in our community and with basketball in the Palmetto State. This role is something that will evolve over time, but I’m excited to have him hit the ground running. Alumni engagement is something that I’m going to emphasize going forward and I expect Carey to play a very vital part in that.”

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