What if I told you the best example of great basketball coaching in the Southern Conference this season may have been turned in by the guy whose team is currently in last place in the league standings?
But don't take my word for it. Give a brief listen to Wofford coach Mike Young, who would be considered by many to be the best or second-best coach in the SoCon these days, right along with East Tennessee State's Steve Forbes.
After knocking off the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday at McKenzie Arena, Young said of first-year UTC coach Lamont Paris: "He's doing a (heck) of a job. What he's doing offensively is nothing short of masterful. Just look at today. He's without (injured) Rodney Chatman, who's been playing as well as any point guard in the league, and if Fletcher (Magee) doesn't get 45 today we could have been in big trouble."
Magee did get 45, though. And the Mocs - who led with 11 minutes to play - lost 74-64, their 13th loss in 16 league games. They have hit the SoCon cellar with two road games to go before the SoCon tourney begins in Asheville, N.C., on March 2.
But forget about the losses, because the mess that former coach Matt McCall left this program in on his way out the door to Massachusetts was always going to guarantee losses, with or without the gifted Chatman.
Instead, focus on the closeness of those 13 league losses, as well as the seven other defeats the program has endured against nine total wins. Of those 20 total setbacks, 12 have come by fewer than 10 points. Seven of those 12 are by five points or fewer, and three went to overtime. Among SoCon games only, they've led 10 of them in the final half.
Yet that's not what most impresses the Wofford coach. Said Young, who has reached the NCAA tournament from a one-bid league four times since 2010: "Lamont could have come in here and found four graduate transfers and three junior college transfers and probably had a lot better record. But he chose to rebuild his program with nice kids who represent the university with class. He's doing it the right way, and they're going to be good again really soon."
It's not just the kids he's brought in, though. Take Nat Dixon, who was here before Paris arrived and recently was suspended for two games by his coach.
"I look at him not only as a great coach but a great teacher," Dixon said after scoring 16 points, pulling down five rebounds and making off with two steals against the Terriers. "He's very strategic. Big on percentages and numbers. He coaches the game the right way. He teaches you to put the team before yourself. He tells you if you'll do the right things, you'll always be in the game at the end."
UTC super fan Bob Mulkey has attended Mocs games since 1971. He's watched every coach from Leon Ford to Ron Shumate to Murray Arnold to Mack McCarthy to Henry Dickerson to Jeff Lebo to John Shulman to Will Wade to McCall to Paris guide the Mocs to victory in both Big Mac and Bigger Mac.
Of this first Paris season and its 9-20 overall record, Mulkey said early Saturday evening, "I think he's done a fantastic job. We've only got seven or eight players, we're one of the youngest teams in the country, and yet we've been in games all season we've had no business being in."
There is no chance Paris will be voted the SoCon coach of the year this season, of course. That honor likely will wind up in the hands of UNC Greensboro's Wes Miller, ETSU's Forbes or perhaps Young, whose Terriers own the league's signature win to date by winning 79-75 at North Carolina behind 27 points from Magee.
But that doesn't mean Paris shouldn't win it, if only for his taste in music.
Asked to reflect on the quickness of this season, the Wofford loss being UTC's final home game this year, Paris soon turned his attention to his musical choice for Saturday's drive to the arena.
"Queen," he said, referring to the 1970s super group. "I was listening to 'We Are the Champions.' What a great song. I hope we get to sing that we are the champions of the world one day."
And that may well come later, right after he's moved past the opening stanzas of that song, such as "I've had my share of sand kicked in my face, but I've come through."
Until then, expect Paris and his Mocs to keep fighting the good fight - to, in his words, "pin our ears back and see where that takes us. Can we (give the effort we gave this game) until we hang our jerseys up? That's why I love this time of the year."
And why, regardless of this year's record, UTC fans should love the fact that they just might have the best coach in the Southern Conference in the seasons to come.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com