Documents reveal how much South Carolina paid search firm after hoops coaching change
South Carolina paid a search firm $50,000 to aid in the hiring of new men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris, according to documents obtained by The State through an open records request.
The Gamecocks announced the firing of 10-year head coach Frank Martin on March 14. One day later, on March 15, the school signed an agreement with the New Jersey-based search firm Turnkey ZRG for $50,000, documents show. The Gamecocks officially announced the hire of Paris 10 days later on March 24 — although reports that a deal was finalized came as early as March 21.
Search firms are commonly used by universities in coaching searches to aid in background checks as well as recruiting, identifying and vetting candidates.
Among the duties of TurnkeyZRG, according to its contract with USC, the company “shall provide a dedicated search team and assess the marketplace; develop an outbound recruitment strategy and target candidate list; and then implement. TurnkeyZRG shall manage candidate communications, as well as the vetting/interview process. TurnkeyZRG shall phone interview and evaluate any suitable candidate(s) from all sources. ... When the client has selected finalist candidates for deeper vetting, then TurnkeyZRG shall promptly check references of those candidates. TurnkeyZRG shall consult with the client regarding and offer and shall help facilitate any required background checks, drug testing or other assessments.”
The Gamecocks used the same TurnkeyZRG search firm to help identify and hire Shane Beamer, a cost that amounted to $34,612.92, according to an invoice obtained by The State through the records request. In comparison, the school paid $80,000 to the Eastman and Beaudine firm in 2016 to help hire then-football coach Will Muschamp, according to a CBS Sports report.
The search that hired Muschamp took 54 days. The search process in which Beamer was hired took 21 days.
Though USC’s search for Paris lasted a little more than a week, USC reportedly chased multiple candidates, including Xavier’s Sean Miller, LSU’s Matt McMahon and Missouri’s Dennis Gates.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 4:57 PM.
