More help on the way? Lamont Paris shares latest on Gamecocks’ roster efforts
The South Carolina men’s basketball team has added two European-born players to its roster for next season. The Gamecocks might not be done adding players with international backgrounds.
“We’re very close to just being done with all the with the vast majority of the pieces that we would predict would be key cogs in what we’re doing,” Paris said Thursday night at the Garnet and Black Tour stop in Charleston. “There are some international guys, even those that are still competing. Those can’t be announced until after they’re done competing.”
South Carolina already announced signees of Duquesne’s Jakub Necas (Czech Republic) and Wisconsin’s Aleksas Bieliauskas (Lithuania), both who came to the United States to play college basketball.
“It’s such a different landscape and so many things that I’ll say we’re close, very close to being done with the vast majority of the players that we anticipate making huge contributions next year,” Paris said. “Some of that stuff will come out again in the next minutes to weeks.”
Shortly after Paris met with reporters, the Gamecocks got a commitment from Alabama guard Davion Hannah, a former four-star prospect in high school and a player ranked among the top 50 in the transfer portal, according to On3’s industry rankings.
Hannah’s commitment puts South Carolina’s roster at 10 players for the 2026-27 season.
Necas and Bieliauskas are two of the six players USC has added in the transfer portal so far. A USC athletics source told The State that the Gamecocks might add as many as three more foreign-born players.
Three players with foreign ties were on this year’s team in Mike Sharavjamts, Nordin Kapic and Christ Essandoko. Sharavjamts and Kapic are both out of eligibility, while Essandoko transferred to Bowling Green.
Paris said any new and returning players would ideally be on campus by early June.
The Gamecocks are coming off a 13-19 season, and their roster is going through a massive overhaul. Twelve players departed because of graduation or transfers.
When it was announced in March that Paris would be back for a fifth season, athletic director Jeremiah Donati said in a statement that there would be “increased level of investment across the program” to help the Gamecocks be able to compete as far as roster building.
According to Patrick O’Rourke, a Washington, D.C.-based CPA who runs nil-ncaa.com, the Gamecocks spent about $4.5 million in revenue share and third-party NIL to build its roster. That figure ranked USC near the bottom of Southeastern Conference basketball programs.
But that number increased this offseason, and Paris said he was “really happy with the commitment” as he tries to rebuild the Gamecocks’ roster and get back to the NCAA Tournament.
“I give a ton of credit, again, to our president and to our board and to our athletic administration for making a commitment that allows us to be competitive,” Paris said. “It’s part of the reason why these interactions are the way that they are. Numbers are changing or going back. It’s like an auction in some ways, at certain times, which I don’t love. But in some of these situations we were in, it was nice to have the paddle to be able to be the last guy standing with some of these kids.”
Paris also said he’s close to finalizing his coaching staff. The Gamecocks hired Ole Miss assistant Bob Donewald Jr. but still need to add one more coach to the bench. South Carolina also added former Charlotte Hornets front office member David Duquette as a consultant who will be involved in all aspects of the program.
