Paris stays, Beamer’s seat warms up

18IsTheMan · Mar 10, 2026

I am disappointed in the decision to retain Paris, as he is obviously just not the solution. However, I think to a certain extent Donati is doing his best to manage the financial situation he inherited. Football is obviously the driver for everything in the athletics department. If this season goes poorly, then we would have to make a change at head coach and let Beamer go. However, if we had already fired Paris this calendar year, that would make it nearly impossible to pay another large buyout to Beamer. As sucky as it is to retain Paris, I think it’s very possible Donati could be doing it to leave himself the flexibility to make a move with football if necessary.

3USC1801 · Mar 10, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I am disappointed in the decision to retain Paris, as he is obviously just not the solution. However, I think to a certain extent Donati is doing his best to manage the financial situation he inherited. Football is obviously the driver for everything in the athletics department. If this season goes poorly, then we would have to make a change at head coach and let Beamer go. However, if we had already fired Paris this calendar year, that would make it nearly impossible to pay another large buyout to Beamer. As sucky as it is to retain Paris, I think it’s very possible Donati could be doing it to leave himself the flexibility to make a move with football if necessary.

Good assessment. I concur — it’s not about poor decision making at the AD position. It’s all about money and forward-thinking.

18IsTheMan · Mar 10, 2026

3USC1801 said:
Good assessment. I concur — it’s not about poor decision making at the AD position. It’s all about money and forward-thinking.

I'm not thrilled about retaining Paris. But I like football much more and success there is far more important that basketball. As much as it sucks to retain Paris, it would suck even more if we paid his buyout, football goes 5-7 and we have to retain Beamer.

Worst case scenario, football is bad again AND basketball is bad again next year. We may still be on the hook for 2 buyouts but will save a few million by stalling a year.

Kind of is what it is with these buyouts. It's a math problem, more so than a personnel problem.

Mr. Belvedere · Mar 10, 2026

The bball coach matters not when there is 0 resource or drive to improve the program from an NIL standpoint. Not sure some of you even get how things work now. It doesn't take a genius or major analytical work to see that the program with the least NIL budget is last in the league. Phil Jackson could be the coach and it wouldn't matter.

sclawman77 · Mar 10, 2026

Mr. Belvedere said:
The bball coach matters not when there is 0 resource or drive to improve the program from an NIL standpoint. Not sure some of you even get how things work now. It doesn't take a genius or major analytical work to see that the program with the least NIL budget is last in the league. Phil Jackson could be the coach and it wouldn't matter.

Next question is if most of the money is going to football then when are we seeing results? Do or die year for Beamer.

18IsTheMan · Mar 10, 2026

sclawman77 said:
Next question is if most of the money is going to football then when are we seeing results? Do or die year for Beamer.

Yeah, I think retaining Paris definitely puts Beamer in a do or die situation. As horrific as basketball was last year and this year, the only rationale I can see for retaining Paris is that Donati wants the financial flexibility to make a move on football if necessary.

Fried Chicken · Mar 10, 2026

We should just shut down the basketball program. Why put the millions into NIL and paying a HC if we’re not going to try to win? We can suck paying absolutely nothing and give it all to football. I’m all for that approach if we’re just going to do this. I’m certainly not for just doing a little bit (millions) and getting the same pathetic results.

if we want to win in any of the big 3 men’s sports, something drastic has to change. We’d all be ok with a football team that is playoff caliber and having a basketball team that’s not worth watching. With how we operate now, we have the same $hitty basketball team, and a below average football team.

Lurker123 · Mar 10, 2026

sclawman77 said:
Next question is if most of the money is going to football then when are we seeing results? Do or die year for Beamer.

I think you're asking the wrong poster. That one is a drive by flamer with little substance.

Lurker123 · Mar 10, 2026

Mr. Belvedere said:
The bball coach matters not when there is 0 resource or drive to improve the program from an NIL standpoint. Not sure some of you even get how things work now. It doesn't take a genius or major analytical work to see that the program with the least NIL budget is last in the league. Phil Jackson could be the coach and it wouldn't matter.

Please explain how things work, it would be a shame to deny your "brilliance" to the board. Is it legal to pay players now? Is wearing a helmet during games going to catch on?

LBGCOCK · Mar 10, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I am disappointed in the decision to retain Paris, as he is obviously just not the solution. However, I think to a certain extent Donati is doing his best to manage the financial situation he inherited. Football is obviously the driver for everything in the athletics department. If this season goes poorly, then we would have to make a change at head coach and let Beamer go. However, if we had already fired Paris this calendar year, that would make it nearly impossible to pay another large buyout to Beamer. As sucky as it is to retain Paris, I think it’s very possible Donati could be doing it to leave himself the flexibility to make a move with football if necessary.

That makes sense.

1vagamecock · Mar 10, 2026

If its strictly a money issue than I see why we would keep Paris, but then you have to take into account 0 season tickets sold next year and what looks to be possibly the worst season in the history of Gamecock BB.
I dont see how any savings justify keeping such a dismal coach.
The AD might as well just come out and say "here at USC no one cares about MBB and we will support it monetarily that way."

RL09 · Mar 10, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I am disappointed in the decision to retain Paris, as he is obviously just not the solution. However, I think to a certain extent Donati is doing his best to manage the financial situation he inherited. Football is obviously the driver for everything in the athletics department. If this season goes poorly, then we would have to make a change at head coach and let Beamer go. However, if we had already fired Paris this calendar year, that would make it nearly impossible to pay another large buyout to Beamer. As sucky as it is to retain Paris, I think it’s very possible Donati could be doing it to leave himself the flexibility to make a move with football if necessary.

I hope there is some logic to retaining Paris, it can't be because Donati thinks he is a good coach

RL09 · Mar 10, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I'm not thrilled about retaining Paris. But I like football much more and success there is far more important that basketball. As much as it sucks to retain Paris, it would suck even more if we paid his buyout, football goes 5-7 and we have to retain Beamer.

Worst case scenario, football is bad again AND basketball is bad again next year. We may still be on the hook for 2 buyouts but will save a few million by stalling a year.

Kind of is what it is with these buyouts. It's a math problem, more so than a personnel problem.

Do you think the decision to retain Lamont, was so Donati could have the room to fire the baseball coach if the season goes South as most are expecting. Afterall the basketball team has sucked for the last 25 years or so with the exception of a couple of years so what's another couple of years of losing matter in the grand scheme of things.

RL09 · Mar 10, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
Yeah, I think retaining Paris definitely puts Beamer in a do or die situation. As horrific as basketball was last year and this year, the only rationale I can see for retaining Paris is that Donati wants the financial flexibility to make a move on football if necessary.

I might be over thinking, but I think this might be to give some flexibility to address the coaching situation with the baseball team, if the season goes as badly as many predict. I think Beamer is safe unless we have an absolutely catastrophic season.

RL09 · Mar 10, 2026

LBGCOCK said:
That makes sense.

or baseball

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

RL09 said:
Do you think the decision to retain Lamont, was so Donati could have the room to fire the baseball coach if the season goes South as most are expecting. Afterall the basketball team has sucked for the last 25 years or so with the exception of a couple of years so what's another couple of years of losing matter in the grand scheme of things.

RL09 said:
I might be over thinking, but I think this might be to give some flexibility to address the coaching situation with the baseball team, if the season goes as badly as many predict. I think Beamer is safe unless we have an absolutely catastrophic season.

I think you are correct here as well. In the hierarchy of sports that the majority of USC fans care about, football is #1, baseball is #2. I think football is obviously the most popular by a very wide gap, but I think baseball is the sport we have taken the most pride in by a wide gap. Baseball isn't nearly as popular as football BUT we have taken great pride in having been a consistently good team over the years, across various coaches until the post-Tanner era. It's the sport in which we have the longest track record of success.

I think football would have to be fixed if Beamer puts up another stinker this year b/c of the revenue aspect. But baseball would have to be fixed b/c that's our pride and joy.

Piscis · Mar 11, 2026

Retaining Paris looks to me to be the result of a lack of real options. Firing him would mean a big buyout and hiring a new coach. The buyout for Paris would pretty well handcuff Donati as to his options with Beamer. Paying Paris' buyout would mean it would be impossible to fire Beamer, no matter how bad next season might be. It would also be very difficult to fire Mainieri this year because of the Pars buyout. Paris is basically holding the entire athletic program hostage.

Best case is, Mainieri retires after this season. Beamer somehow puts together an 8 win season to inject life into football and MBB becomes an afterthought and Paris is fired after next season. The new baseball coach shows promise in season one and the new MBB coach gets the fans excited.

The nightmare scenario to me for next year is, Beamer goes 6-6 and goes to a crap bowl and wins for a 7-6 record. Donati can't fire him because he showed improvement and won a bowl, but he is still average as unsalted grits. Paris has another Paris type season where SC ends up at or near the bottom of the SEC and baseball is breaking in a new coach.

The chicken curse is real.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Retaining Paris looks to me to be the result of a lack of real options. Firing him would mean a big buyout and hiring a new coach. The buyout for Paris would pretty well handcuff Donati as to his options with Beamer. Paying Paris' buyout would mean it would be impossible to fire Beamer, no matter how bad next season might be. It would also be very difficult to fire Mainieri this year because of the Pars buyout. Paris is basically holding the entire athletic program hostage.

Best case is, Mainieri retires after this season. Beamer somehow puts together an 8 win season to inject life into football and MBB becomes an afterthought and Paris is fired after next season. The new baseball coach shows promise in season one and the new MBB coach gets the fans excited.

The nightmare scenario to me for next year is, Beamer goes 6-6 and goes to a crap bowl and wins for a 7-6 record. Donati can't fire him because he showed improvement and won a bowl, but he is still average as unsalted grits. Paris has another Paris type season where SC ends up at or near the bottom of the SEC and baseball is breaking in a new coach.

The chicken curse is real.

And it's all in exchange for getting booted from the first round of the NCAAT.

Like most others, I wanted Paris gone. But Donati has the unfortunate reality of having to take a holistic look at the athletic department. The reality is we have two hefty buyouts on the table. I don't doubt if football had a strong season last year that Paris would be gone.

will110 · Mar 11, 2026

Or all that matters is maximizing profit, and Donati isn't going to fire anyone.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

will110 said:
Or all that matters is maximizing profit, and Donati isn't going to fire anyone.

The unfortunate reality is that an AD here has to be more of a bean counter than ADs at other programs.

Piscis · Mar 11, 2026

will110 said:
Or all that matters is maximizing profit, and Donati isn't going to fire anyone.

Many forget that the ADs primary job is to maximize revenue and profit in the athletic department. As long as the revenue stream remains strong and the program is profitable, everything else is secondary.

I find it interesting that Donati pledged more money to MBB. Where is that money coming from? I don't think the AD has much control on how much NIL money is available, I've always thought the collectives control where NIL money goes.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Many forget that the ADs primary job is to maximize revenue and profit in the athletic department. As long as the revenue stream remains strong and the program is profitable, everything else is secondary.

I find it interesting that Donati pledged more money to MBB. Where is that money coming from? I don't think the AD has much control on how much NIL money is available, I've always thought the collectives control where NIL money goes.

I read yesterday that, supposedly, Alabama was outspent in basketball NIL by 10 other SEC programs, yet they finished 2nd in the conference. Puts a bit of a hole in the "we just need more NIL money" narrative.

FWIW, though, I thought Donati's statement sounded fairly generic. I don't see where he officially pledged more NIL money but just a "greater commitment" to basketball successs

Piscis · Mar 11, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I read yesterday that, supposedly, Alabama was outspent in basketball NIL by 10 other SEC programs, yet they finished 2nd in the conference. Puts a bit of a hole in the "we just need more NIL money" narrative.

FWIW, though, I thought Donati's statement sounded fairly generic. I don't see where he officially pledged more NIL money but just a "greater commitment" to basketball successs

Kentucky outspent everyone in the SEC and they ended the season with the same conference record as UGA and a worse overall record. UGA was squarely in the middle of the NIL spending numbers.

In college sports, according to ADs, the solution to every problem seems to be more money donated by the fans.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Kentucky outspent everyone in the SEC and they ended the season with the same conference record as UGA and a worse overall record. UGA was squarely in the middle of the NIL spending numbers.

In college sports, according to ADs, the solution to every problem seems to be more money donated by the fans.

Soooooooo NIL spending may not be the ultimate deciding factor after all?

1vagamecock · Mar 11, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
The unfortunate reality is that an AD here has to be more of a bean counter than ADs at other programs.

I feel to much credit was given to our new AD.
Right now his "legacy" is being built and its an awful start.
He is coming across as impotent and timid.
Next year's BB team will be dismal with no one on the stands again and his legacy will take yet another hit.
I cant see the future in football and maybe his new hire in Baseball helps turn his legacy around, but what looks like a wasted year in MBB then a rebuild year puts doubt in my mind that we have an AD that's capable of doing the job.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

1vagamecock said:
I feel to much credit was given to our new AD.
Right now his "legacy" is being built and its an awful start.
He is coming across as impotent and timid.
Next year's BB team will be dismal with no one on the stands again and his legacy will take yet another hit.
I cant see the future in football and maybe his new hire in Baseball helps turn his legacy around, but what looks like a wasted year in MBB then a rebuild year puts doubt in my mind that we have an AD that's capable of doing the job.

Way too early to tell, I guess.

I think he is probably to be credited with the makeover of the football staff. Given Beamer's buyout, that was probably the best overall solution.

The decision on Paris, like I said, likely has more to do with retaining financial flexibility to make a move in football (and baseball if necessary).

The reality is that he inherited two bad extensions for Beamer and Paris. I don't doubt much of what he's doing is a stall to trim a few million dollars off these buyouts.

atlanta cock# · Mar 11, 2026

Mr. Belvedere said:
The bball coach matters not when there is 0 resource or drive to improve the program from an NIL standpoint. Not sure some of you even get how things work now. It doesn't take a genius or major analytical work to see that the program with the least NIL budget is last in the league. Phil Jackson could be the coach and it wouldn't matter.

It's too easy of an excuse to blame it on NIL. Great coaches get the job done. Who in he!! is Paris going to recruit this year? Everyone knows he's a one and done.

atlanta cock# · Mar 11, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
I think you are correct here as well. In the hierarchy of sports that the majority of USC fans care about, football is #1, baseball is #2. I think football is obviously the most popular by a very wide gap, but I think baseball is the sport we have taken the most pride in by a wide gap. Baseball isn't nearly as popular as football BUT we have taken great pride in having been a consistently good team over the years, across various coaches until the post-Tanner era. It's the sport in which we have the longest track record of success.

I think football would have to be fixed if Beamer puts up another stinker this year b/c of the revenue aspect. But baseball would have to be fixed b/c that's our pride and joy.

Baseball is not #2. A great turnout is 6,000. But few more tune in if the game is on TV outside of the game being in Omaha. There is no comparison when the MBB is good-competitive. 18,000 fill the arena and 10s of 1000s (or more) tune in even for home games.

atlanta cock# · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Retaining Paris looks to me to be the result of a lack of real options. Firing him would mean a big buyout and hiring a new coach. The buyout for Paris would pretty well handcuff Donati as to his options with Beamer. Paying Paris' buyout would mean it would be impossible to fire Beamer, no matter how bad next season might be. It would also be very difficult to fire Mainieri this year because of the Pars buyout. Paris is basically holding the entire athletic program hostage.

Best case is, Mainieri retires after this season. Beamer somehow puts together an 8 win season to inject life into football and MBB becomes an afterthought and Paris is fired after next season. The new baseball coach shows promise in season one and the new MBB coach gets the fans excited.

The nightmare scenario to me for next year is, Beamer goes 6-6 and goes to a crap bowl and wins for a 7-6 record. Donati can't fire him because he showed improvement and won a bowl, but he is still average as unsalted grits. Paris has another Paris type season where SC ends up at or near the bottom of the SEC and baseball is breaking in a new coach.

The chicken curse is real.

Tanner was real. NC State and Hyman were right.

1vagamecock · Mar 11, 2026

Next year will be another embarrassment.
In 2027 we will be in the same boat we are now just another year wasted. Might as well tell everyone you dont care about MBB instead of lying and saying you care and keeping such an awful coach.

HWGcock · Mar 11, 2026

RL09 said:
I hope there is some logic to retaining Paris, it can't be because Donati thinks he is a good coach

I would think the huge buyout is the only reason he was retained.

HWGcock · Mar 11, 2026

18IsTheMan said:
The unfortunate reality is that an AD here has to be more of a bean counter than ADs at other programs.

Thanks to the previous AD!

Paris stays, Beamer’s seat warms up

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