It may have taken a couple of days but new USC MBB coach Lamont Paris is rapidly filling out his coaching staff after being named to his post in late March. A day following the annoucement of former USC guard Carey Rich as the program’s special assistant to the head coach, Paris filled two more slots on the staff with familiar names on Friday. According to USC, Tanner Bronson and Eddie Shannon have been hired as assistant coaches on the Carolina staff. Bronson was an assistant for Paris at Chattanooga over the past five seasons, while Shannon served in an assistants’ role for the last three years with the Mocs.
“I am extremely excited to announce these additions to my staff and cannot wait to have them put their fingerprints on Gamecock basketball,” Paris noted in a media release. “Tanner has been with me since day one of my head coaching career. He’s extremely talented as a teacher as well as an evaluator and a recruiter. His impact on building a championship team and culture was incredibly significant. As a former standout guard in the SEC, Eddie Shannon is extremely familiar with this league and what it takes to be successful. He does a tremendous job with our perimeter players, and is very familiar with our geographic footprint from a recruiting standpoint.”
From the USC Media Release:
A native of Glendale, Wisc., Bronson got his start in college basketball as a student manager at Wisconsin in 2004. He then joined the team as a walk-on and would eventually earn a scholarship playing for legendary coach Bo Ryan. While playing for the Badgers, Bronson was a part of four NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight in 2005 and a Sweet Sixteen in 2008. Wisconsin won 30 or more games twice during his playing career in Madison.
“I am extremely grateful to be joining Lamont Paris at the University of South Carolina,” said Bronson. “I want to thank Athletics Director Ray Tanner for his belief in coach Paris’ ability to build a winning program here in Columbia. This incredible institution along with Coach Paris’ vision is why I’m so excited to be a part of the Gamecock family.”
A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., Shannon was a four-year starter at the University of Florida (1995-99) helping usher in the Billy Donovan era in Gainesville. He scored 1,168 career points and left as the career leader in steals (204) and was second in assists (493).
Shannon then went on to play professionally overseas for 10 seasons with stops in Australia, Croatia, Cypress, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Russia and Sweden. He earned Swedish League Guard of the Year and was named finals MVP after leading the league in scoring in 2002.
After a successful playing career, Shannon got into coaching and first served as an assistant at NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic from 2012-15. He then moved on to Chattanooga and worked as director of basketball operations for one season (2015-16) before joining the staff as an assistant the following year (2016-17). He helped lead the Mocs to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 after winning the SoCon regular season and tournament titles. The team won a school record 29 games in 2015-16.
“I’m honored and humbled to join Gamecock Nation,” voiced Shannon in the release. “I’m so grateful to coach Paris for giving me this opportunity. I am here to work diligently and make the South Carolina community proud. Go Gamecocks!”
