Two of the best: Dawn Staley, Lamont Paris finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year

Both South Carolina head basketball coaches are National Coach of the Year finalists from Naismith for their work done during the 2023-24 season.

Dawn Staley is in the running for her third-straight Naismith honor, winning it in three of the last four seasons. This is Lamont Paris’ first finalist honor for the Naismith and the first for the men’s program.

Staley led the No. 1 USC women’s team to an undefeated regular season, sweeping the SEC Tournament, and is heading to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in Albany, New York this weekend. Staley was already named the National Coach of the Year by The Athletic, ESPN and USBWA, while picking up SEC Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time.

Other women’s collegiate Coach of the Year finalists from Naismith are Iowa’s Lisa Bluder, Southern California’s Lindsay Gottlieb and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer.

Paris led USC men’s basketball back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years, building a 26-7 overall record. Paris earned the third-ever SEC Coach of the Year honor for South Carolina. The Gamecocks finished the season in the first round of March Madness.

The three other men’s collegiate Naismith Coach of the Year finalists are UConn’s Dan Hurley, Iowa Stata’s T.H. Otzelberger and Houston’s Kelvin Sampson.

The Naismith awards are announced April 3 for the women, and April 7 for the men’s honor.