Longtime Wisconsin basketball assistant and current South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was named 2023-24 SEC Coach of the Year Monday afternoon.
Paris has the Gamecocks at 25-6 in only his second year on the job. His team went 11-21 last season after he took over for longtime head coach Frank Martin and now has taken a gigantic leap to finish second in a tough SEC Conference.
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The fast-rising head coach was a Wisconsin assistant from 2010-2017 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s coaching staffs — present for the best run in program history from 2013-2017.
He left in 2017 for the head coach job at Chattanooga, where he finished 87-72 over five seasons — improving from 10-23 and 10th in the Southern Conference his first season to 27-8 and conference champions in his final year.
The same pattern appears to be happening at South Carolina, as the Gamecocks suffered one down season under his tenure before jolting toward the top of the SEC.
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Paris’ team is currently ranked No. 15 in the nation and projects as a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
2024 #SECMBB Coach of the Year
🐔 Lamont Paris, @GamecockMBB
🔗 https://t.co/f131fRugsd pic.twitter.com/37KQcuSb5L
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) March 11, 2024
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