South Carolina Basketball: Lamont Paris SNUBBED in national coach of the year voting

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris turned in one of the best coaching jobs in the country during the 2023-2024 season. Paris led his Gamecock team from tying a program record for losses in 2022-2023 to tying a program record for wins in 2023-2024. USC was picked to finish dead last in the SEC standings this preseason but finished tied for 2nd and easily made the NCAA Tournament.

Though he was selected as the SEC Coach of the Year, Coach Paris' season wasn't enough for some.

On Friday, the Associated Press announced their National Coach of the Year, and Paris did not win. He did not finish 2nd. Lamont Paris finished 3rd in AP National Coach of the Year voting, and it was not even close. Coach Paris picked up 8 votes from the AP panel, while the winner (Houston's Kelvin Sampson) got 23 votes and 2nd place (UConn's Dan Hurley) received 21.

Not only was Coach Paris snubbed in terms of total votes, but the head Gamecock had a great argument to be the winner.

Going from 11 wins to 26 is almost unheard of in major college basketball. So is being picked 14th but finishing 2nd. Yet, that's exactly what Coach Paris pulled off this season. The Gamecocks were underdogs more often this season than they were favorites, and, yet, they finished 26-8.

To most in the college basketball world, South Carolina's Lamont Paris and Iowa State's TJ Otzelberger had the most impressive more-with-less coaching performances of the season, but UConn's Dan Hurley and Houston's Kelvin Sampson had more impressive overall seasons. USC and ISU were both unranked in the preseason, while UConn and Houston were preseason top-6 teams.

Typically, coach of the year awards go to the more-with-less coaches unless a top team is outrageously dominant or chasing history. The AP decided to go another direction this year, and it is a shame that neither Paris nor Otzelberger was the winner.