ESPN insider evaluates hot seat status for USC’s Lamont Paris
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ESPN insider Jeff Borzello released a total evaluation on Wednesday morning of the college basketball coaching carousel that is set to take hold of the sport in the coming months.
Among his “jobs that could open” category, Borzello put South Carolina‘s Lamont Paris in the “probably at least a year away” portion of his preview. Right now, things aren’t looking good in Columbia, with the Gamecocks sitting near the bottom of the SEC standings at 3-12 to go with a 12-16 overall record.
South Carolina has dropped 8 of its past 9 games, including Tuesday night’s home loss to Kentucky, and after 4 victories to start the regular season, the Gamecocks are just 8-16. Paris is in his 4th season in Columbia, with an 11-21 record in his first year and a 12-20 mark last season only balanced out by a stellar 26-8 record in 2023-24.
Paris’ 22-47 record in the SEC also doesn’t look very good, and these mostly ugly numbers landed him on Borzello’s list of coaches to watch out for as the 2026 carousel grows closer. Here is what Borzello wrote about Paris in his carousel preview on Wednesday:
After struggling in Year 1 in Columbia, Lamont Paris guided the Gamecocks to a 26-win season in 2023-24, earning a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament and winning SEC Coach of the Year. But the Gamecocks haven’t come close to sustaining that momentum, entering the week with a 24-35 (5-27 SEC) record over the past two seasons. But it sounds as if the school plans to increase Paris’ NIL budget, in the hope that he will turn things around next season. Paris signed a 6-year, $26 million extension through 2029-30, and there’s just over $12 million remaining.
No matter what happens in the offseason with Paris and the Gamecocks, Borzello is serving notice now that South Carolina’s coaching situation is one to watch going forward.
The Gamecocks are way out of the running for any conference crown in 2026. But here are Kalshi’s odds for those SEC championship contenders this season:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
