Lamont Paris shares South Carolina's plan for final open scholarship

South Carolina left one roster spot for next season unfilled with a returning player in mind. Since he won’t be back in Columbia, though, the Gamecocks are deciding what they want to do with it now over this summer.

Lamont Paris discussed his program’s plans for that last roster spot while with the media on Monday. He explained they were keeping it available in case Collin Murray-Boyles decided to come back to college and rejoin them. However, with him remaining in the 2025 NBA Draft, they’re now left to pivot with a scholarship left to work with for next year’s team at South Carolina.

“With the whole Collin thing, there were so many decisions you had to make and you had to get to a certain place. And just so, for full disclosure. But as we did it, and I spoke with Collin as he was in the decision-making process,” said Paris. “You know, I wanted to create a team that – because you had to make some decisions. So, do you take a guy to replace what Collin’s doing and then, if so, is he similar to Collin? And then, if Collin comes back and those two play together, who do you have to say, well, you know, Collin came back, you’re not gonna (play)?

“So we tried to construct a team in a way that we would have our team essentially without Collin. But yet we were built in a way that, if Collin did decide he was going to come back, we were even better as a group. I think we did that.”

So, with Murray-Boyles going pro tomorrow night in the first round, the Gamecocks have that one spot left. It’s a spot they fully intend to use in some sense too with one more addition coming for South Carolina.

“In some way, shape or form, yes,” Paris said. “You know, there’s a lot of things that, a lot of things – I mean a lot of things that go into that. So, in some way, shape, or form, we will most likely add another person to the roster.”

The Gamecocks have a new roster having lost their six leading scorers with only three returning players in Myles Stute, Cam Scott, and Jordan Butler. That’s with a Top-25 portal class incoming, with six additions in Elijah Strong (Boston College), Meechie Johnson (Ohio State), Christ Essandoko (Providence), Kobe Knox (USF), Nordin Kapic (UC San Diego), and Mike Sharavjamts (Utah), and five freshmen coming in with Eli Ellis along with EJ Walker, Hayden Assemian, Grant Polk, and Abu Yarmah.

With everything else in place, Paris says South Carolina is taking time to fully evaluate what would fit that final spot best. That gives them the flexibility to add someone they want, not someone they need if they decide to not use it, to go with the other 14.

“I don’t think we’re on some search right now to find the savior for this next year’s team. The piece would have to make sense. We talked about team chemistry and all that and so it needs to be a person that’s going to enhance that part,” said Paris. “We’re a couple (of) weeks into this at this point.

“I mean, we’ll probably try to do something but it’ll be, I don’t know that it’ll be, you know – I don’t want to say too much. I don’t want to say too much about what type of player will be but it’ll be someone that fits in really well and seamlessly. Again, we’re not at a point right now where we’re looking for the savior at this point. We’ve constructed the team that we want, that we want to construct and we’d only look to add a piece that makes, makes complete sense.”

With that draft decision, South Carolina has had that roster spot fully available for four weeks now going into summer workouts. That has them still considering their options to this point as to who the fifteenth and final player will be for the Gamecocks’ team.

“Stay tuned,” said Paris.