South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris hires Tim Buckley to finalize coaching staff

Cory Diaz
Greenville News
South Carolina men's basketball coach Lamont Paris

COLUMBIA – New South Carolina men's basketball coach Lamont Paris has finalized his coaching staff.

The USC Board of Trustees on Thursday officially approved the hiring of Tim Buckley as an assistant coach. The longtime assistant of Tom Crean, who recently was the head coach at Georgia, comes to Columbia from UNLV.

TIM BUCKLEY

Buckley signed a one-year, $350,000 deal with USC. 

Last week, Paris hired Tanner Bronson and Eddie Shannon, two of his former assistants at Chattanooga, to join his staff at South Carolina. Bronson was Paris' top assistant with the Mocs and will fill that role with the Gamecocks.

Carey Rich:Former South Carolina player Carey Rich joining Lamont Paris' inaugural staff

Lamont Paris:A look at the details of men's basketball coach Lamont Paris' contract with South Carolina

Five things to know:Five things to know about new South Carolina men's basketball coach Lamont Paris

Paris took over the USC men's basketball program last month, replacing former coach Frank Martin, who has landed the head coaching job at UMass.

Buckley coached the past three years at UNLV, which finished second in a loaded Mountain West Conference this season. It was the program's best finish in 12 years.

Before his stint in Las Vegas, Buckley spent 11 seasons as Crean's top assistant at Marquette (1999-2000 and 2007-08) before following him to Indiana (2008-17). The Hoosiers made four NCAA Tournaments and one NIT appearance during their stint in Bloomington.

Buckley, a Bemidji (Minn.) State graduate, also has Division I head coaching experience at Ball State (2000-06) and spent time as an NBA scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves (2017-19).

Cory Diaz covers the South Carolina Gamecocks for The Greenville News as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his work for all things Gamecocks on Twitter: @CoryDiaz_TGN. Got questions regarding South Carolina athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.