COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The best thing about South Carolina men's basketball coach Lamont Paris' rise from SEC obscurity to the school's first NCAA berth in seven years was the close bond that developed between players who had little to no connections.

Paris hopes to assemble a similarly tight-knit team, as his Gamecocks, one of last season's biggest positive surprises, will be completely different from the one that beat Kentucky and Tennessee and set a school-record 26 wins.

“I think it's no secret that I thought that was one of our best qualities,” Paris said of the chemistry and good feelings that drove the Gamecocks, who went 11-21 in Paris' first season in 2022-23.

“We played well together. The guys enjoyed playing with each other and playing for each other,” Paris said.

This offseason could be just as challenging as the last, as South Carolina has lost four players, including leading scorer Meechie Johnson, who started 116 games.

Johnson, who averaged 14.1 points per game last season, was the only one still eligible to play and surprised many by returning to Ohio State, where he had played before coming to South Carolina in Paris' freshman season.

Also no longer with the team are the talented transfer players Ta'Lon Cooper, BJ Mack and Stephen Clark. Cooper averaged 33 minutes per game, while Mack played just under 25 minutes.

Paris attributed the early cohesion to last summer's tryout trip to the Bahamas, when the Gamecocks, picked last in the SEC, entered the contest with a 13-1 record and only one loss to Clemson.

The cohesion needs to happen on campus and has actually already begun with informal workouts featuring plenty of free-flowing offense for freshmen players like Kam Pringle, who transferred from Alabama, 7-foot-4 Jordan Butler, who transferred from Missouri, and freshman Cam Scott, who initially played for Texas before transferring to South Carolina.

“Maybe it helps that more people come back,” Paris said. “From the standpoint of terminology and culture and traditions and customs and things we want to do, we have more of that.”

Leading those returnees is 6-foot-4 sophomore Collin Murray-Boyles, who was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team after averaging 10.4 points and nearly six rebounds per game. He also led the Gamecocks with 28 blocks and was dominant with 31 points in the win over Vanderbilt (14 of 17 shooting).

Murray-Boyles is already on the NBA's watch list for next June's draft should he decide to move.

“I still believe his potential is incredibly high, and I still believe he is a long way from reaching it,” Paris said.

Other players returning include forward Myles Stute, who played his first three years at Vanderbilt, and sophomore Austin Herro, brother of the Miami Heat's Tyler Herro, who earned a scholarship this season.

“These guys still heard what we were saying, and hopefully that will help speed up the process of getting comfortable playing with each other and developing chemistry,” Paris said.

It was hard to say what expectations were placed on this team a year ago after losing the Memphis Grizzlies' leading scorer and current star player, Gregory “GG” Jackson, to the NBA Draft after his freshman season.

Paris knows after last season's surprise performance that fans are hungry for more. Paris himself reinforced that when he turned down other opportunities and signed a six-year, $26 million contract extension through the 2029-30 season.

Paris will earn $3.75 million this season, up from $2.3 million last year.

Paris brought in assistant Will Bailey from Loyola-Chicago on Wednesday to round out his coaching staff. Bailey had worked with the Gamecocks in 2020-21 and 2021-22 under former coach Frank Martin.

Paris has worked to keep these external predictions secret for now.

“My plan is a little premature,” Paris said. “We're just trying to get to know each other.”

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Pete Iacobelli, Associated Press