Lamont Paris contract extension: Exploring South Carolina head coach's new deal with the Gamecocks

The South Carolina Gamecocks have reportedly extended a contract extension and a bump in the salary to their men's basketball coach, Lamont Paris.

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Paris agreed to a six-year contract Thursday morning after he won the SEC Coach of the Year award in 2023-24. The extension keeps Paris in South Carolina through the 2029-30 season and averages more than $4 million annually. The coach earns around $2.3 million per year.

Per the report, the contract is pending the board of trustees' approval, which is set for 9 a.m. Friday. The new deal will place him among the highest-earning coaches in the Southeastern Conference.

The agreement reportedly came together after Paris was linked to the vacant head coaching job at Ohio State.

Lamont Paris turns South Carolina around

Lamont Paris is in his second season as the head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks. He was hired in March 2022 and signed a five-year deal with the program. In his first season with the Gamecocks, the team went a disappointing 11-21.

However, South Carolina is 25-6 this season and will be in the NCAA Tournament as Lamont Paris has turned the program around after just one season.

The Gamecocks are set to play Arkansas on Thursday in the SEC Tournament, and Paris has confidence that his team will win the entire tournament.

“We want to win the SEC Tournament, there’s a lot that goes with that,” Paris said Wednesday on the Paul Finebaum Show, via ON3. “But I think it’s a good precursor to the NCAA Tournament just in terms of there’s nothing guaranteed other than the game we play tomorrow at 2:30.

“And you must play well, you must compete well and you must also make plays in order to advance. And if you do enough of those things and you earn another 40 minutes, then you do it all again.”

The Gamecocks are 5.5-point favorites to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks on Thursday afternoon.

If South Carolina wins, the Gamecocks will play Auburn on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET.