Lamont Paris

Lamont Paris is a highly respected American college basketball coach who has made his mark on the sport both as a player and a coach. As of March 2022, Paris was officially announced as head basketball coach at South Carolina, becoming the first African-American to lead the Gamecocks’ men’s basketball program.

Paris played college basketball at The College of Wooster, Ohio, where he was captain for his junior and senior seasons while also being a two-time All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection. After beginning his coaching career as an assistant at his alma mater during the 1997-98 season, Paris moved on to assistant coaching stints at DePauw and IUP before landing on Keith Dambrot’s staff at Akron where he stayed for five seasons. Paris’s coaching success continued when he joined Bo Ryan’s staff at Wisconsin in 2010, where he was a part of two Sweet 16 squads and the Badgers’ Final Four and national championship game appearances during the 2013–14 and 2014-15 seasons. He became head coach at Chattanooga in 2017, and during the 2021–22 season, Paris led the Mocs to a 27–8 record and the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships. In the NCAA Tournament, 13th seeded Chattanooga narrowly lost to Illinois 54-53.

Paris has an impressive coaching record and is widely recognized as a rising star in the world of college basketball. It will be exciting to watch where he career takes him next!