This South Carolina men’s team looks different. You can see it in how they walk into the gym, how they talk in huddles, how they carry themselves before the ball even tips. Coach Lamont Paris built a roster full of grown men this year – six upper-class transfers mixed with hungry returners who remember every loss, every headline, every doubt. That kind of memory can be fuel. And this group is ready to burn some of it.
Paris didn’t just go after talent. He went after experience. Guys who’ve been through real seasons, who know what it feels like to take a punch and keep swinging. That’s what South Carolina needed, leadership on the floor, communication, maturity. The new faces might’ve come from different programs, but they all share one thing: something to prove. You can tell by the way they practice, by the way they talk about defense like it’s personal.
This is a team built to fight, not just play. They’ve got size now, toughness, and a mix of speed and structure that feels like a turning point for the program. You see flashes of chemistry already – guards talking early, bigs setting hard screens, the bench engaged. It feels like a team that knows who they are before the season even starts.
Every program hits a moment where it either settles or levels up. Lamont Paris sounds like a man tired of settling. The SEC’s deep, the spotlight’s heavy, but these Gamecocks aren’t backing down. They’re stepping into this season with something real… belief. Not talk, not hype, just belief. And that’s how every rebuild starts to look like a breakthrough.
