South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks finish season ranked in final AP poll

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris orchestrated the most impressive turnaround in college basketball this season. After the Gamecocks tied a program record for losses last year (going 11-21), and after they were picked to finish last in the SEC, they tied a program record for wins this year (going 26-8) and set a new record for regular season wins (25).

It took a while for many in the national media to buy into the Gamecocks as a good team this season as a 17-2 start did not propel Carolina into the AP top-25 poll, even though they had just whipped #6 Kentucky. When Coach Paris' squad knocked off the Tennessee Volunteers on the road the following week, USC finally cracked the top-25.

They didn't give up their place in the rankings the rest of the season.

Now, for the first time, the Associated Press released a postseason poll as their final ranking instead of ending their rankings before the NCAA Tournament. South Carolina basketball finished inside the top-25, just squeaking in at #24.

The place in the final rankings adds even more legitimacy to what the Gamecocks accomplished during the 2023-2024 season. If finishing tied for 2nd in the SEC and making the NCAA Tournament (easily) was not enough, a top-25 ranking in the final AP poll provides Lamont Paris and his program with another intangible building block that they can use in recruiting players to join the cause of keeping the Gamecocks in the realm of competitiveness and relevancy.

The remarkable season in Columbia did not net Coach Paris the AP or Naismith National Coach of the Year honors (though, it probably should have). However, Paris and his group changed the negative perception that has existed around the program since Frank Martin failed to build anything off of the 2016-2017 Final Four appearance.