Paris Named to Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
South Carolina Athletics/Danny Parker
Second-year head coach is one of 15 in Division I named to prestigious list
ATLANTA, Ga. – Head coach Lamont Paris was named to the 2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List on Friday The Atlanta Tipoff Club announced. He is one of 15 Division I coaches on the list and one of three from the Southeastern Conference.
Paris has guided the Gamecocks to one of the single greatest turnarounds in program history. After going 11-21 overall and 4-14 in the league last season, South Carolina is currently 21-5 and 9-4 in SEC action with five regular season games remaining. The 10-win improvement is T-2nd best single-season win jump in program history.
He has the No. 20/20 Gamecocks back in the top-25 of each major poll for the first time since 2017. His team is 8-3 in Quad 1 and Quad 2 games this season. Carolina has been ranked as high as No. 11 this season, the highest ranking for the program since the 1997-98 season.
South Carolina also had a recent seven-game winning streak in conference action, the longest win streak for the program in SEC play since the 1996-97 team started the conference slate 11-0.
The team has four road wins in conference action this season so far. The next victory would tie the 2016-17 team for the second most SEC road wins in program history (SC joined the SEC in 1991-92).
The Gamecocks are on the road for the team’s next two games. Carolina will first face Ole Miss (19-7, 6-7 SEC) on Saturday in Oxford. Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with Richard Cross (pxp) and Pat Bradley (analyst) on the call.
2024 Werner Ladder Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
Hubert Davis – North Carolina
Bryce Drew – Grand Canyon
Anthony Grant – Dayton
Dan Hurley – UCONN
Nate Oats – Alabama
T.J. Otzelberger – Iowa State
Matt Painter – Purdue
Lamont Paris – South Carolina
Bruce Pearl – Auburn
Richard Pitino – New Mexico
Mark Pope – BYU
Kelvin Sampson – Houston
Josh Schertz – Indiana State
Kyle Smith – Washington State
Danny Sprinkle – Utah State
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