In the wake of an historic season, South Carolina is ensuring coach Lamont Paris stays in Columbia.
South Carolina’s board of trustees has approved a new six-year contract with Paris, who won the SEC’s Coach of the Year award in 2023-24.
The deal will pay Paris more than $26 million through 2029-30.
Paris, 49, will receive $3.75 million – up from $2.3 million this year – for next season with automatic salary increases of $250,000 until he’s at $5 million for the final year of the deal in 2029-30.
Paris’ buyout, should he choose to leave, starts at $12.5 million next season and decreases throughout the length of the deal until he would owe the school $1 million should he go during the final year of the contract.
The panel signed off on the contract Friday, a few hours before Paris and the 15th-ranked Gamecocks take on No. 12 Auburn for a spot in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.
Paris’ experience in the Big Ten as an assistant for seven years at Wisconsin led to interest from Ohio State and likely would have from other schools. The deal ensures he’ll be off the market as the coaching carousel heats up in the coming weeks.
The decisive move by athletic director Ray Tanner marks a strong commitment to men’s basketball at South Carolina, which has made just one men’s NCAA basketball tournament since 2004.
This year, Paris has South Carolina on the cusp of its first NCAA appearance since 2017. The Gamecocks are 25-6 this season and a projected No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.
South Carolina, which was picked to finish last in the SEC in preseason polls, defied expectations by finishing one-game behind outright regular-season champion Tennessee among four teams tied with a 13-5 SEC record. Paris entered this season as the lowest-paid coach in the SEC, making $2.3 million this year.
Paris became the first South Carolina coach to win the league’s coach of the year, as the 25 wins were the most in a regular season in school history at South Carolina.
Paris came to South Carolina after five seasons at Chattanooga, which included an NCAA tournament appearance in his final year there. South Carolina went 11-21 in his first season there last year, and this year advanced to as high as No. 11 in the Associated Press poll.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
