Lamont Paris was officially hired at South Carolina on Thursday when the Board of Trustees approved his 5-year contract to coach the Gamecocks’ men’s basketball team.

Paris’ contract is $12 million, and he will make $2.2 million his first year and average $2.4 million over the length of the contract, The State reported.

Paris coached at Chattanooga since 2017, and previously was an assistant at Wisconsin, Akron, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, DePauw, and the College of Wooster. The Mocs also made the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round. They went 27-8 this past season.

Paris, 47, is the first African-American head coach to lead the Gamecocks, the school said in a news release.

In 5 seasons, he led Mocs to an 87-72 overall record (.547), including a 65-29 mark the last 3 seasons.

This season, he led the Mocs to their first Southern Conference title and NCAA berth since 2016. Chattanooga finished the season with a 27-8 mark. He is one of 20 finalists for the Hugh Durham Award, given by CollegeInsider.com to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.

“Lamont Paris is the right choice to lead our men’s basketball program,” Athletics Director Ray Tanner said in the release. “When we began this search, I said we wanted to hire someone with a winning coaching history, who has the energy, passion and commitment to excellence in all areas of the student-athlete experience. Coach Paris checks all of those boxes.

“Lamont’s success on the court speaks for itself,” continued Tanner. “He has recruited and developed talent at the highest level, helping Wisconsin reach the Final Four on two occasions, and has taken his experiences under some of the nation’s top coaches to build his own winning program at Chattanooga. Off the court, he is first-class person who will embrace our community and the Gamecock Family. We believe he is one of the bright young coaches in the profession and we are thrilled to have him lead our men’s basketball program.”