'It was awesome': Lamont Paris happy for Dibba to return to court
For the first time since November of last year, Ebrima Dibba checked into a basketball game for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Lamont Paris’ team was on the road in College Station, seeking another Quad I win over Texas A&M. The Gamecocks were going to be shorthanded again, with Myles Stute sidelined another game with a knee sprain.
Before the road trip, Dibba had gone to Paris with a request: he wanted to play.
[GamecockCentral for $1: In-depth coverage and a great community]
The Coastal Carolina transfer was expected to make an impact for USC last season as a point guard with size. Instead, he suffered an Achilles tear in preseason workouts and never saw game action.
Worse, the fear was that the injury could sideline him for good.
“It wasn’t a garden variety Achilles tear,” Paris explained after South Carolina’s 70-68 win on Wednesday night. He ended up having all these complications. It didn’t look like maybe he would ever play, potentially.”
Dibba did try to give it a run at the start of the 2023-24 campaign, suiting up to play two minutes against USC Upstate.
“He was a different player,” Paris explained. “He couldn’t move the way he was used to moving, the way he’s been moving his whole life.”
Paris said he was “really happy” when Dibba approached him with the idea of playing several days ago.
With a little less than five minutes to go in the first half on Wednesday night, Dibba found himself with the ball in his hands.
He drove to the basket, rose for a layup, and banked it in for two points – plus a foul.I
It gave South Carolina a two point lead at the time – the Gamecocks ended up winning by two – but to Dibba and Paris, it meant a whole lot more.
“It was awesome,” Paris said. “Man, what a great moment for him. For him to go out there and attack the rim and get fouled and make it was really special. When my career’s over one day, I’m not sure if I’ll remember this game. I’ll remember that was the game that happened for that young man.”
