South Carolina starter set to transfer in latest blow for head coach Lamont Paris

The 2025-26 South Carolina men’s basketball season will be one Gamecock fans try to soon forget.

Now, South Carolina has lost one of its key starters who transferred to the Gamecocks just last year. On Friday afternoon, reports that South Carolina starting forward Elijah Strong was set to enter the portal surfaced 

Shortly thereafter, Strong’s name was listed on 247Sports transfer portal class as an outgoing transfer.

Strong entering the portal isn't a huge surprise, given how poor South Carolina's season went. But losing Strong will hurt, as he was a key contributor on offense for the Gamecocks. He averaged 10 points per game with another 2.3 rebounds, averaging 17 minutes per contest. 

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Strong transferred to South Carolina after two seasons at Boston College. He arrived in Columbia as a three-star transfer prospect. 

“[Strong] is going to be huge for us,” South Carolina assistant coach Carey Rich said of Strong after his arrival via On3. “He’s probably Coach Paris’ ideal post player because of his ability to not only play with his back to the basket from the block and also play from the elbow, but most importantly for Coach Paris and his system, he’s been able to shoot from the 3-point line.”

It’ll be interesting to see if more South Carolina players follow in Strong’s footsteps after a tough season in Columbia. 

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In head coach LaMont Paris’ third season as head coach, South Carolina finished 13-19 on the season, winning just four games in SEC play. 

Unsurprisingly, the Gamecocks missed out on a postseason tournament entirely. 

Although there was speculation that South Carolina would move on from Coach Paris after four seasons, Gamecocks athletic directer Jeremiah Donati announced earlier this month that he would return for the 2026-27 season.