Man in the Hat media

The University of South Carolina has its next men's basketball coach. Athletics director Ray Tanner named Lamont Paris as the 33rd coach in program history, and first African-American head coach. The hiring comes roughly two weeks after Tanner severed ties with Frank Martin, ending a decade-long tenure where Martin went 171-147, but made just one NCAA tournament appearance. He also failed to win a conference title. He was the second-winningest coach in program history, behind Frank McGuire. LINK: Martin out, who is next in Paris, 47, comes to Columbia after spending the last five years leading Chattanooga. The Mocs went 87-72, peaking with a 27-8 mark this year with an NCAA tournament berth. They also won the regular season and Southern Conference tournament championships. Before becoming a head coach, Paris spent 20 years as an assistant spanning Division III, II and I programs, most recently at Wisconsin from 2010-2017.  And the initial reaction to Paris by fans was...cool to put

The University of South Carolina is in the market for a new men's basketball coach with the news of Frank Martin's firing. The move ends a decade where Martin went 171-147, but made just one NCAA tournament appearance and did not win a conference title. He finishes as the third-winningest coach in program history. LINK: Martin out as USC coach Last year Martin kept his job due in large part to outside influence and the school having to pay a massive buyout of former football coach Will Muschamp. The Board of Trustees at the time had concerns paying two massive buyouts. You can read a more in-depth look at that below. LINK: Martin saga leaves USC with egg on its face Martin's contract was reworked to be much friendlier for the school, which was reported in April by WLTX. The big takeaway was if he was fired after April 1, 2022, the buyout wouldn't exceed $3 million. That is on top of his $3.3 million salary from the season. Now, athletic director Ray Tanner has another b

The South Carolina baseball team is not looking good in 2022.  After a sweeping loss to rival Clemson, the Gamecocks were outplayed in a midweek loss to then-two-win Xavier, falling to 7-5 on the year. So how did things get here? For full context, the seeds for the inadequacy were planted a decade ago. After two national titles in three consecutive World Series appearances, Ray Tanner stepped aside to become the schools athletic director, and named assistant coach Chad Holbrook to the head gig. Over the next five years, Holbrook labored under what can now be called unrealistic expectations, going 199-105, while amassing a 91-67 conference record. The time included three trips to the post season, two super regional apperances and three 40-win seasons. But, no CWS appearances, no national titles.  After the 2017 season, Holbrook was gone and Tanner turned the program over to Kingston, who parlayed successful stints at Illinois State and South Florida, going a combined 273-180-1 (.600 win