Best in the SEC: South Carolina’s Lamont Paris honored as league’s Coach of the Year

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the SEC men’s Coach of the Year has been given to the Gamecocks’ leader.

Lamont Paris, the Gamecocks’ leader of the men’s basketball team, was named the SEC Coach of the Year by the league on Monday — about a week after Dawn Staley earned the same honor as the USC women’s coach. It’s the third time in SEC history were both conference coaches of the year are from the same university.

It’s also the third time in program history a USC head coach has earned the SEC Coach of the Year honor and the first since Eddie Fogler (1997) and Dave Odom (2004).

Paris earned his second Coach of the Year award on Tuesday, receiving the Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year award. It’s the first time in program history a USC men’s head coach has won the AP award.

Paris just finished his second regular season as USC’s head coach, leading the Gamecocks to a 25-6 (13-5 SEC) record, a Top 25 ranking and the No. 5 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament. Those 25 wins were the most in a regular season in USC program history and the most for a second-year Gamecocks head coach. (George Felton won 19 games in 1987-88, his second season as coach.)

South Carolina improved its win total from Paris’ debut season to this year by 14 wins, and included marquee regular-season wins over Kentucky, Tennessee and Grand Canyon. The Gamecocks in the preseason were predicted by the media to finish last in the SEC.

Paris’ second season at the helm is considered the greatest single-season turnaround in program history. He finished with 13 SEC wins, the second most in program history behind the 1996-97 squad, when Folger’s team went 15-1 that year.

This is Paris’ second conference Coach of the Year award in three seasons — he earned the Southern Conference’s award in his final season at Chattanooga. Paris made his head coaching debut in the NCAA Tournament that same year.

Gamecocks’ guards Meechie Johnson and Ta’Lon Cooper were being on the SEC’s Second Team, while forward Collin Murray-Boyles was named to the All-Freshman squad.

South Carolina opens play at the SEC Tournament in Nashville at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday, facing either Arkansas or Vanderbilt.

▪ More honors for Paris: The Associated Press named Paris its SEC Coach of the Year in awards announced Tuesday. It’s the first time a South Carolina men’s basketball coach has been named AP SEC Coach of the Year.

SEC End of Season Awards

• Coach of the Year: Lamont Paris (South Carolina)

• Player of the Year: Dalton Knecht (Tennessee)

• Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Sean East II (Missouri)

• Freshman of the Year: Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)

• Sixth Man of the Year: Rob Dillingham (Kentucky)

• Defensive Player of the Year: Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee

First team

• Mark Sears (Alabama)

• Johni Brome (Auburn)

• Zyon Pullin (Florida)

• Antonio Reeves (Kentucky)

• Tolu Smith III (Mississippi State)

• Dalton Knecht (Tennessee)

• Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee)

• Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M)

Second team

• Jaylin Williams (Auburn)

• Walter Clayton Jr. (Florida)

• Rob Dillingham (Kentucky)

• Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)

• Matthew Murrell (Ole Miss)

• Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State)

• Ta’Lon Cooper (South Carolina)

• Meechie Johnson (South Carolina)

• Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee)

All-Defensive team

• Johni Brome (Auburn)

• Cameron Matthews (Mississippi State)

• Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee)

• Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee)

• Andersson Garcia (Texas A&M)

All-Freshman team

• Aden Holloway (Auburn)

• Alex Condon (Florida)

• Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia)

• Rob Dillingham (Kentucky)

• Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)

• D.J. Wagner (Kentucky)

• Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State)

• Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina)