South Carolina’s men's basketball had a great season last year while going 26-8 last season and outperforming expectations. In Lamont Paris' second season as the Gamecocks head coach, he shocked the country and had his team in the Top 25.

The Gamecocks were predicted to finish last in the SEC and they finished 3rd. South Carolina winning 26 games last year was a school record. The Gamecocks have not historically been a great men’s basketball school but coach Paris is looking to turn that around. Coach Paris is going to have a lot of new faces this upcoming season.

Star guard Meechie Johnson is transferring to Ohio State, Johnson was a key piece for the Gamecocks this season and this will be a big loss for South Carolina. The Gamecocks picked up some transfers from the portal including center Jordan Butler from Missouri, center Nick Pringle from Alabama, and point guard Jamarii Thomas from Norfolk State.

South Carolina has a great player in shooting guard Cam Scott coming to Columbia as a freshman from the Lexington area. After this season Lamont Paris picked up a $26 million 6-year new contract to keep him in Columbia for the future. With the momentum from last season the Gamecocks have invested more money in NIL for coach Paris and having trust in your coach is a big deal.

South Carolina men’s basketball had a lot better attendance at games this season. South Carolina men’s basketball is in the best place it has been in a long time. Coach Paris will be looking to make a deep run in March Madness next year.

It will be interesting to see if coach Paris can continue the success and get the Gamecocks to be better than they were last season.