Paris hire leaves Gamecocks feeling letdown. Should they?

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.

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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 it nicely.

It is widely known Paris was not the first choice.

The school's first target, Sean Miller, spurned Tanner's offer to return to Xavier while Murray State head man Matt McMahon picked LSU over the Gamecocks.

It then came down to Paris, Furman head coach Bob Richey and Wake Forest assistant BJ McKie.

Richey withdrew and fans started to push for McKie, a well-regarded alum.

But the fact remains, either McKie or Paris would have been  high risk hires that don't look like an upgrade from Martin. 

But looking at KenPom, Paris may be an upgrade in certain areas.

The big issue that Martin couldn't overcome was consistently inefficient offense. This year's team finished 200th in KenPom rankings. 

Chattanooga outpaced Carolina in offensive efficiency at 69th nationally, and slightly less efficient on defense at 76th.

Full discolsure, this was the best year for the Mocs offensively in over two decades. After two poor opening seasons, Paris' team posted two top 100 offensive rankings. 

Below are highlights of their NCAA tournament game against Illinois. Pay close attention to his offensive sets.

Granted, those numbers come with the caveat of playing in the Southern Conference. How well Paris' style translates to SEC play is a fair concern. But, he was a top recruitier for Wisconsin, so he clearly has an eye on D1 talent. 

There are three things to watch now moving forward.

1 - Can he can build a good staff.  Head coaches are only as good as their assistants and support staff. Also, how well can Paris delegate responsbilities. 

2 - Recruiting. Can he and his staff keep the top players in state? This is something that has generally eluded Carolina basketball coaches for decades. The last time Carolina signed the top-rated player in the state was 2015 with PJ Dozier. Before that, 2011 with Damien Leonard.

Since Dozier's signing, Carolina has signed a just seven instate players, while missing out on top ranked players such as Zion Williamson, Juwan Gary, Brice McGowens, John Butler, Aaron Nesmith, DJ Burns, Josiah Jordan-James, Jalek Felton. 

Also, being able to identify good players in neighboring states, internationally and, most importantly starting out, the transfer portal, will be key. 

3 - Positive energy. The progam and fanbase are at a lowpoint right now. The last few years have drained the energy out, so putting an energetic, fun, offensive minded product on the floor can do a lot in the short term.

So what can, or should, fans expect this upcoming season?

It will probably be a little bumpy. Paris will undoubtly have growing pains. The key will be can he learn from them. 

More concretely, one of the most likely things is high roster turnover. Expect some high school signings, but the transfer portal will likely be the way to go, at least early on.

That bleeds into the second thing, better offense.

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In short, this is likely a rebuild. And in year one, hope to win more than you lose. The main thing you want to see is increased consistency and growth from the first game to the last, and hope to build some excitment for the upcoming signing classes. 

Most importantly, fans need to see positive energy, enthusiasim and the players having fun and playing a more offensive minded brand of basketball. 

Martin proved success is possible at Carolina with the Final Four run. Whether Paris can find and maintain it, that won't be known for a few years.