Another turbulent season of Gamecock basketball has come to a close.

South Carolina’s season ended last week with an 86-74 loss to Oklahoma in the first round of the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks finished the season (13-19) overall and (4-14) in conference play. The team did not receive a bid to play in the NCAA tournament and will not participate in the NIT. 

The team’s next steps are to determine what the future will look like. With head coach Lamont Paris already confirmed to return next season, all eyes will turn to the players to see who’s staying and who’s leaving.

“We’ll have meetings immediately with all the guys,” Paris said. “A lot of honesty in those meetings, self-reflection on both behalves. Ultimately, there’s so much mobility that, in conjunction with a player and their family, any of the people that are in their circle, you come to a decision on who will be here the next year and who won’t be here the next year. Those will generally happen relatively quickly. Then you’ll have an idea of what you need to bring in to fill some of those voids.” 

South Carolina’s roster saw significant turnover after a poor year last season. The Gamecocks finished the 2025 season (12-20) and returned just three players from that team. 

The men’s basketball transfer portal opens April 7, the day after the national title game. It will be open for 15 days. The Gamecocks have one incoming freshman in their 2026 class so far. Marcus Johnson, cousin of current Gamecock Meechie Johnson, signed his letter of intent to play for the team. 

While 2026 marked another disappointing year for the program, the school still has faith in Paris to turn things around. The coach is two years removed from leading the team to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017 and has attracted some of the highest-rated recruits in program history. 

It was announced that Paris would return before the team even tipped off against Oklahoma in the SEC tournament. After the announcement, athletic director Jeremiah Donati released a statement. 

“I understand the frustration and disappointment following the results of the past two seasons,” Donati said in his statement. “Coach Paris can win here, and he has proven it. … He has proven he can win throughout his coaching career. Our goal is to build a men's basketball program at South Carolina that is consistently competitive in the SEC and nationally. To reach our goals, it will require an increased level of investment across the program that matches these expectations.”   

Paris bought a lot of good faith after leading the team to a program-best 26 wins in 2024. It bought him another year, but time may be running out.

The Gamecocks will have to make a lot of changes to compete in a conference as talented as the SEC. Donati highlighted the need to increase investments to keep up, but for now, it is unclear what those investments will be. 

Whatever changes are made behind the scenes, Paris expressed the importance of recruiting and getting players who are already established as solid pieces. 

“Some of it is recruiting some players that specifically already do certain things, recruiting some guys that will have less growth needed,” Paris said. “Now, the more advanced players are, there’s a price tag that’s attached to those guys. I hate to even say it that way, but that’s kind of what it is.”