South Carolina hires UTC’s Lamont Paris as men’s hoops coach

South Carolina has hired Chattanooga’s Lamont Paris as its new men’s basketball coach on Thursday.

The university’s board of trustees approved a five-year deal worth $12 million. Paris will make $2.2 million his first season with a built-in raise of $100,000 each year after that.

Paris, 47, takes over for Frank Martin, who was fired earlier this month after 10 seasons and just one NCAA appearance with the Gamecocks. Paris becomes the first Black men’s basketball coach in school history.

In Paris’ five seasons at Chattanooga, this past year was his best. The Mocs finished 27-8 and won the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships.

Paris’ team took fourth-seeded Illinois down the wire in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round before falling 54-53 last week.

“Lamont Paris is the right choice to lead our men’s basketball program,” South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said in a statement.

Tanner said when the search started he was seeking a coach with a winning history with the energy, passion and commitment to excellence in all areas.

Coach Paris checks all of those boxes,” the AD said in his statement.

Paris was among several candidates South Carolina interviewed.

A person familiar with the coaching search said the Gamecocks also interviewed former Arizona coach Sean Miller, who decided to return to coach at his old school, Xavier; Murray State coach Matt McMahon, now at LSU; and Dennis Gates of Cleveland State, who landed at Missouri. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details of the search have not been publicly released.

Paris’ contract includes a $100,000 bonus for winning the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles and a $600,000 bonus for a national championship.

The deal includes a buyout where Paris would owe South Carolina $5 million if he chose to leave in the first year. That amount shrinks each season until a $500,000 buyout in the final contract year.

Paris was excited for the new opportunity. “I want Gamecock fans to know that we will have a program that you will be proud of and one that will compete for championships,” he said in the statement.

Paris was an assistant at Wisconsin for seven years under head coaches Bo Ryan and Greg Gard before moving to Chattanooga after the 2016-17 season.

Paris will likely have his hands full managing a roster in flux from this year’s 18-13 at South Carolina. Erik Stevenson, the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.4 points a game this season, has entered the transfer portal. Leading scorer Jermaine Couisnard at 12.2 points a game is also weighing whether to return to explore his pro options after declaring for the NBA draft a year ago.

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