UTC athleitics director David Blackburn (left) welcomes new head men's basketball coach Lamont Paris Monday at the Mapps Center
photo by Dale Rutemeyer
UTC men's basketball coach Lamont Paris speaks in front of local media and UTC supporters Monday at the Mapps Center
photo by Dale Rutemeyer
Newly hired UTC men’s basketball coach Lamont Paris cares about people, his players, defense and among other things Jolly Dipper Ice Cream.
Example #1 – A Good Samaritan: Hired Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz. (site of the Men’s D-I NCAA Final Four) as UTC’s 20th men’s basketball coach, Paris – now a former U. of Wisconsin assistant coach - flew Sunday morning from Phoenix to Milwaukee, Wisc. and planned to immediately drive to Madison where he would meet with the U. of Wisconsin players.
But in the airport parking lot he noticed a lady with her kids had a dead car battery. Paris’ agenda quickly changed as he spent 45 minutes helping the lady jump start her car and then he was on his way.
Example #2 – Jolly Dipper Ice Cream: Growing up in Findlay, Ohio, Paris and his brother were on the same local Little League team and did well.
“I played shortstop and centerfield, we had a good team and our reward for winning was post-game trips to the local Jolly Dipper Ice Cream shop on 510 E. Lincoln Street.
“It was a big deal to win so we could get ice cream at Jolly Dipper and trust me we ate there a lot,” said Paris with a smile Tuesday at a meet-and-greet with the media and UTC supporters in the Mapps Building near the UTC campus.
Winning is still a big deal for Paris – now in his first few days as a head college basketball coach – as in his 18 seasons as an assistant at five colleges – including one season at his alma mater The College of Wooster (Ohio) – he has an impressive 487 wins and 194 losses, including six trips to the Sweet 16 and two trips to the NCAA Final Four with Wisconsin, including a national runner-up finish in 2015.
I have been at two schools (Akron and Wisconsin) the past 13 seasons so I am not a fly-by-night coach,” Paris stated.
Paris follows Will Wade (now the head coach at LSU) and Matt McCall (now the head coach at UMass.) who were at UTC two years each.
Defense is Key: Paris, 43, helped coach the Badgers to 20-win seasons each of the past seven seasons and he relies heavily on defense.
“If you look at the average score of teams during the season it is higher than the scoring average during the NCAA tournament as every possession is important since every game is a one-and-done. It’s a loss and you go home situation,” he stated.
Georgetown Hoyas: “Growing up my favorite teams were Ohio State in football (he was born Nov. 11, 1974 the fall Buckeye great Archie Griffin won the first of two Heisman Trophy’s), Georgetown with coach John Thompson in basketball, the Cleveland Indians in baseball and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.”
“I loved the way the Hoyas played defense,” said Paris who was age 10 when the G-men won the 1984 NCAAs.
Led by All-American center Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas held four of its five NCAA tourney opponents to under 50 points - UNLV (48), Dayton (49) and Kentucky to 40 in the semis - before defeating Houston, 84-75 in the title game in Seattle.
Ironically, Ewing (an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets this past season), gained his first head coaching job Sunday at Georgetown, the day after Paris came to an agreement with the Mocs.
Paris’ goal is to take the Mocs hoops program to a new level including a trip to the Sweet 16, the Final Four and beyond which could mean another trip or two to Jolly Dipper for more winning ice cream.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net