Lamont Paris: 'Hayden Brown is a winner'
Hayden Brown found himself in the open court at a point in South Carolina’s three-point win over SC State Tuesday night.
He half looked around, raising up and hammering home a dunk while the crowd at Colonial Life Arena erupted. To the fans, it was their introduction to Brown but for Lamont Paris, he saw Tuesday what he expected to see from Brown this season.
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“Man, he’s a winner. He’s a winner…Hayden Brown is a winner. That’s about as simple as I can put it. That’s not a knock on anyone else. I’ve been fortunate, lucky enough, whatever you want to call it,” Paris said, his face lighting up.
“I’ve been around a lot of winning at the highest level. The guy whose games seem to fit right in with what I’m used to, I’m looking around and can recognize it and smell it and see what it is is his game. He does winning things.”
If his long hair and grizzly beard were any indications he’s enjoying life in Columbia after spending five years at The Citadel, his stat line certainly was.
Brown finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting while getting to the line a whopping 12 times and knocking down nine of his attempts from the charity stripe.
He drew a charge, hauled in five rebounds, came up with a steal while not turning the ball over in 27 minutes.
Brown also finished plus-10 for the day, tied for the best plus-minus on the team with Meechie Johnson.
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“He comes out and takes a charge early. He’s help-oriented. He boxes out when he needs to. Forget the plays as far as if it goes in the basket or not. The guy makes winning plays. He’s a winner. It’s good for these young guys or guys who aren’t as experienced.”
Paris’s comments certainly come off as someone who loves what Brown brings to the table.
Brown has also played over 2,600 minutes of college basketball. He is also a valuable resource for a relatively young first team in South Carolina for Paris.
“They must learn what winning is. I can tell them what it looks like. Just like a chef can tell me how to make a fancy French meal,” Paris said. “Until I get in there and mess it up and see it and am involved in it, it’s hard for me to do it. They get to see it first hand, get to guard him and be around it and what it’s like. He’s a winner. And I know that if I know anything about basketball.”
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Brown, a South Carolina native, gets his first taste of the Palmetto Series rivalry this week when the Gamecocks host Clemson Friday night (7 p.m., ESPN Plus).
His full availability is still unclear. Brown is coming off a hamstring injury that limited him to 27 minutes Tuesday.
“I expected to play. Credit our training staff. They’ve done a great job getting me to where I need to be in order to play and be available for the team. It was a bit of a minutes restriction,” Brown said Tuesday. “I pride myself on being honest about how I feel being as old as I am. I have to be conscious of that…I’ll talk with our head trainer and we’ll see what the next step is.”
