A senate RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE coach lamont paris FOR being named the 2024 associated Press sec coach of the year.

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate is pleased to learn that Coach Lamont Paris has been named the 2024 Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year; and

Whereas, making University of South Carolina history, Coach Paris is the first South Carolina men's basketball coach to be named AP SEC Coach of the Year since the Gamecocks joined the league in 1991; and

Whereas, Coach Paris had been a part of nine NCAA Division I Tournaments and seventeen 20-win seasons as a college head and assistant coach before being named the University of South Carolina's thirty-third head coach by Director of Athletics Ray Tanner on Thursday, March 24, 2022; and

Whereas, Coach Paris was the first African American head coach in the history of the Gamecock men's basketball program. He came to the University of South Carolina after five seasons as the head coach at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he coached the Mocs to an 87-72 overall record (.547); and

Whereas, the Gamecocks were picked in the 2023-2024 preseason to finish dead last in the SEC, having won only eleven games during the 2022-2023 season. In a remarkable turnaround season under Coach Paris, South Carolina went 25-6 and 13-5 in league play during the 2023-2024 season, tying for second in the league and earning the most regular-season wins in program history; and

Whereas, the Gamecocks had the best scoring defense in the SEC this season, allowing just 66.4 points per game; and

Whereas, the Gamecocks won seven SEC games on the road this season, tying the 1996-1997 team for the most SEC victories away from home in a single season. The team boasts an impressive 11-3 record in true road and neutral site games this season; and

Whereas, the team was 3-3 against AP Top-25 opponents this season. They are one of eighteen teams in the country with multiple top-ten wins and one of five teams in the nation with a top-five true road win; and

Whereas, the Senate is grateful for Coach Paris's dedicated service to the Gamecock community and the State of South Carolina and takes great pleasure in saluting him for receiving the prestigious 2024 AP SEC Coach of the Year award.  Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate the University of South Carolina's Coach Lamont Paris for being named the 2024 Associated Press SEC Coach of the Year.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Coach Lamont Paris.

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