South Carolina MBB won’t play in NIT despite invite. Lamont Paris explains why
By its own choosing, South Carolina’s men’s basketball season is over.
Despite finishing with a 12-20 record — and dead last in the SEC with two conference victories — the Gamecocks men’s basketball team was in line for a postseason berth in the National Invitational Tournament. In fact, they earned an automatic exemption into the NIT Tournament.
The Gamecocks, however, declined an invite from the NIT, according to a university source.
The school later Sunday confirmed the decision with a statement from coach Lamont Paris.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for the NIT and the exciting opportunity it provides good teams to continue playing for a championship. Unfortunately, due to some attrition on our roster with injuries we decided it was best not to participate this year,” Paris said in the statement.
The fact South Carolina’s season could have included a postseason appearance is certainly interesting. And how was it possible, you ask? Well, two reasons.
First, the NIT Tournament tweaked its selection protocol a few months ago to give the top three teams from both the SEC and ACC that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament an automatic spot in the NIT.
Second, SEC men’s basketball teams put together perhaps the best season of any conference in history. Yes, the SEC beefed up to 16 teams with the additions of Texas and Oklahoma, but it also set a record by putting 13 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Before that, only the Big East in 2011 (11 teams) had sent double-digit squads to March Madness.
Because of that, South Carolina and LSU (14-18, 3-15 SEC) had spots in the NIT, but the Gamecocks and the Tigers both passed.
“This year we competed in one of the best conferences in college basketball history,” Paris said in the Sunday statement. “While we did not reach our goal of making the NCAA Tournament, I am, however, extremely proud of the effort and determination our guys played with all season.”
Prior to this year, in part because of long-lived NCAA rule prohibiting teams with losing records to make the tournament, 2024 Xavier (16-17) was the only sub-.500 group that played in the NIT.
And, going back 20 years (aside from the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season), no team made the field with fewer than 15 wins. South Carolina (12 wins) could have made unceremonious history.
Instead, South Carolina will look toward the 2025-26 season.
And as the offseason begins, the big question for Paris’ team is the status of forward Collin Murray-Boyles. There is a chance Murray-Boyles opts for the NBA Draft, where projections have him hovering as a mid-first-round pick, but the Columbia native has not ruled out a return to South Carolina.
“Much sincere thanks to our dedicated fanbase for its outstanding support for our guys,” Paris said in the statement. “We will build on that and start our work immediately as we look to make a return to the NCAA Tournament in 2026.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 5:54 PM.
