{"id":257,"date":"2026-05-16T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2026-05-16T17:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T17:05:00","slug":"south-carolina-mbb-hires-former-college-basketball-star-as-assistant-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=257","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina MBB hires former college basketball star as assistant coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamont Paris has turned to one of his former players to fill out South Carolina\u2019s assistant coaching staff.<\/p>\n

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On Friday, Paris announced he\u2019d hired 32-year-old Sam Dekker as an assistant coach.<\/a> The two have a long relationship dating back to their time at Wisconsin, where Paris was an assistant coach and Dekker (2012-15) was the Badgers\u2019 star forward, helping lead Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours.<\/p>\n

Dekker, who was drafted 18th overall in 2015 by the NBA\u2019s Houston Rockets<\/a>, recently wrapped up an 11-year pro playing career that included 201 NBA games and more-recent stints in leagues in Turkey, London and Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful to Coach Paris for trusting me with this role, and I take it very seriously,\u201d Dekker said in a release. \u201cThe decision to transition from player to coach is not one I took lightly, but joining Coach Paris and this program was a dream opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for why Paris, coming off a disastrous 13-19 season<\/a>, decided to fill out his staff with a first-time coach, he said it comes down to what Dekker can do for player development.<\/p>\n

\u201cDevelopment of each player\u2019s individual abilities is as important now as it has ever been in college basketball,\u201d Paris said in the release. \u201cSam\u2019s unique experiences and skill set will allow him to have a tremendous impact on our players and program immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball who averaged over 35 points as a senior, Dekker stayed in-state to play for Hall of Famer Bo Ryan<\/a> at UW. In his final season with the Badgers, Dekker had a knack for showing up in the biggest moments. In the Badgers\u2019 Elite Eight win over Arizona, he scored a career-high 27 points, hitting all five of his triples in the second half. Less than a week later, he scored 16 points in Wisconsin\u2019s upset of undefeated Kentucky in the national semis.<\/a><\/p>\n

Full circle moment. Basketball truly can write stories in your life that you\u2019d never thought possible. pic.twitter.com\/iIIEgIAXG8<\/a><\/p>\n

Dekker is the third hire Paris had made this offseason.<\/p>\n

After the departure of assistants Eddie Shannon and Will Bailey, Paris hired veteran Bob Donewald Jr.<\/a> in early April then waited a month before filling out his staff with Dekker. In between those two assistant coaching hires, though, South Carolina hired Charlotte Hornets\u2019 executive David Duquette as a consultant who will have a large role in the Gamecocks\u2019 front office.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 10:41 AM<\/span> with the headline “South Carolina MBB hires former college basketball star as assistant coach.” <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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The South Carolina Gamecocks men\u2019s basketball team, led by Lamont Paris, hired former Wisconsin Badgers\u2019 star Sam Dekker as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Carolina MBB hires former college basketball star as assistant coach - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South Carolina MBB hires former college basketball star as assistant coach - 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