Gamecocks Host SC State in First Game of Paris Era

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A New Chapter of South Carolina men’s basketball gets underway on Tuesday night as the Gamecocks host South Carolina State in the first game of the Lamont Paris era. Tip is set for 7 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network. Doors will open one hour prior at Colonial Life Arena.

GAME INFORMATION

Matchup: South Carolina vs. SC State (SC leads all-time series 21-0)

Time: Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Venue: Colonial Life Arena

Tickets: click here 

TV: SEC Network

Radio: 107.5 The Game (SiriusXM 138 or 190/SXM App 961)

Live Stats: StatBroadcast

TIPOFF NOTABLES

• Lamont Paris, who has been a part of nine NCAA Division I Tournaments and 17 twenty-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach, was named the University of South Carolina’s 33rd head coach by Director of Athletics Ray Tanner on Thursday, March 24, 2022.
• In 114 previous seasons of basketball at Carolina, the Gamecocks are 84-30 all-time in season openers. Tuesday marks the second time in school history the team has opened the season against SC State. The last matchup in game one between the Gamecocks and Bulldogs came on Nov. 10, 2006, a 55-52 Carolina victory.
• This new-look Gamecock squad features eight new players (four transfers and four freshman) headlined by standout freshman forward Gregory “GG” Jackson II, the highest rated recruit in program history (recruit rankings started in early 2000s). He joined former Carolina standout PJ Dozier (2015-17) as the only five-star signees in program history.
• Carolina began the season with an 80-41 exhibition win over Mars Hill on Nov. 2 at CLA. Meechie Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 16 points. Chico Carter Jr. (13), GG Jackson (11) and Zachary Davis (10) all scored in double figures for Carolina. Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk led the team with 12 rebounds. The Gamecock defense limited the Lions to just 27.9 percent shooting (17-for-61) and 6.3 percent (1-for-16) shooting from behind the arc. Carolina outscored Mars Hill 44-20 in the second half.

• The Lions were led by first-year head coach Larry Davis, a former Gamecock great (1995-97) and one of the stars on the 1997 SEC Championship squad. His two-year scoring mark of 1,068 points still remains the second most points scored by any two-year player in program history. Davis originally attended North Carolina before transferring to South Carolina and head coach Eddie Fogler.

ORDER ON THE COURT

• The Honorable L. Casey Manning enters his 30th season as an analyst for men’s basketball games on the Gamecock Radio Network. He joined the broadcast team for the 1993-94 season and worked alongside legendary South Carolina play-by-play man Bob Fulton. Manning has worked alongside current play-by-play man Derek Scott since 2016-17. The Gamecocks advanced to the school’s first ever Final Four their first year working together. Manning, a Dillon, S.C. native, played for the Gamecocks from 1970-73 and made history as the first African-American scholarship player in program history. He graduated from the South Carolina School of Law in 1977 and has served as Circuit Court Judge for the Fifth Judicial Court since 1994. Manning will retire on Dec. 31 this year.

 PRESEASON NUGGETS

• GG Jackson was one of 20 players in the country to be named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Watch List on Oct. 27, 2022. He joined former Gamecock Chris Silva (2015-19) as the only Carolina players on the watch list in the nine-year history of the award.

 BY THE NUMBERS

6 & 7 – Gregory “GG” Jackson II, a Columbia native, steps on campus ranked No. 6 in the final 247Sports and No. 7 in the final On3 player rankings for the 2022 class after reclassifying from 2023 over the summer.

1,402 – Graduate transfer Hayden Brown scored 1,402 career points for The Citadel over five seasons, which is the seventh-most in program history.

2 – Brown is one of two players in The Citadel’s history to score 1,400 points and collect 700 rebounds in his career. A 6-5, 234-pound forward, he averaged 18.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in 2021-22.

.691 – New head coach Lamont Paris spent the past five seasons as head coach at Chattanooga. He led the team to a 65-29 (.691 win percentage) record the last three seasons and a berth in the 2022 NCAA Tournament after winning the SoCon Tournament Championship.

12 – Paris was an assistant for 17 seasons prior to becoming a head coach in 2017-18. He was a part of 12 NCAA Tournament appearances as an assistant (NCAA Division I and II), including a pair of Final Fours at Wisconsin in 2014 and 2015.

17 – In 22 seasons as a head or assistant coach in college, Paris has been a part of 17 teams that have won 20-or-more games in a season.

8 – Carolina’s roster features eight new players, including four transfers: Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (Illinois), Hayden Brown (The Citadel), Ebrima Dibba (Coastal Carolina) and Meechie Johnson (Ohio State).

EARN IT

UP NEXT

South Carolina remains home for a Palmetto Series matchup with in-state rival Clemson on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. (ET). It’s just the second time in 171 all-time meetings the teams will play in Nov. The only previous meeting this month was Nov. 17, 2013 at Clemson. South Carolina leads the all-time series 91-80. Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (color) will have the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.

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