CHARLESTON — Lamont Paris has never been one to show the stress of the job. Which explained how he discussed his roster construction during the Garnet & Black Tour stop in the Lowcountry the other night.
“Collin Murray-Boyles’ sophomore year, (in 2024-25), we had the peanut butter of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Paris said. “If you’re looking at our interior and our frontcourt, it was the strength of our team, clearly. This year, we had the jelly of the peanut butter and jelly. If you look at our perimeter group, it was decidedly our most productive group.
“While that’s the freshest, you definitely want to make sure your frontcourt is improved, deeper. At the same time, you want to put peanut butter and jelly together, which is what we had two full seasons ago.”
Sandwiches. That was the topic of conversation when facing a make-or-break season, with a still-incomplete roster. Paris mentioned it again during the Q and A session in Charleston.
Seriously?
Yes. Because he had a point. Sandwiches are good. Only having one side of a sandwich, covered with whichever of the two choices, isn’t. Those are only good for hecklers who need ammunition when pelting performers on stage.
Paris has had plenty of that. The Gamecocks followed a beautiful 26-win NCAA Tournament season in his second year with a combined 25 wins over the past two.
Nobody — officially, anyway — has used the term “hot seat” when it comes to Paris’ fifth season, which will commence this fall, but it’s easy to connect the dots. Athletic directors aren’t in the habit of issuing statements of support when a coach is doing well.
It’s why one of the largest and reddest push-button topics this offseason is who Paris is bringing in to have a substantially better season, and, lately, has fans asking why it’s taking so long. USC did announce the official signings of five commitments last week, but there are still six open scholarships.