Furman ends 43-year old NCAA Tournament Drought

Dreaming the Big Dream! Furman downs Chattanooga to punch Big Dance ticket

It was the dawn of a new era in the United States. The average cost of gas was $1.19, the average income per year was a little under 20K per year, and the president was Jimmy Carter. Mount Saint Helens erupted, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the LA Rams, 31-19, in the Super Bowl, the No. 1 single was Blondie’s “Call Me”, and Denny Crum’s Louisville Cardinals claimed the NCAA Basketball crown, it snowed in Florida (Mar. 1, 19080) and oh yeah, I was born on April 28 of that year. The year was 1980.

The last moment won’t make any of those major events from the year that commenced what some believe is the greatest decade of in the history of the United States for a myriad of reasons, which not least of which featured Karate Kid and its Chicago soundtracks that takes pretty much all of us in my age bracket back to their respective childhoods. It was the dawn of a new decade, and in particular, the last time Furman made the Big Dance and went to the NCAA Tournament. That’s 43 years worth of futility for FU.

The 1979-80 basketball season was one that is also a special one to Furman fans, as it was the last time the Paladins saw their team go dancing in March under the direction of head coach Eddie Holbrook. The Paladins knocked off VMI (W, 87-75 in Greenville), East Tennessee State (W, 93-81), and Marshall (W, 80-62) to claim their sixth Southern Conference Tournament crown. It was a season which would see the Paladins win 23 games en route the SoCon’s regular-season crown.

On March 6, 2023, it had been 15,710 days since Furman last cut down the nets at a Southern Conference Tournament and 364 days removed from David Jean-Baptiste’s 36-footer that sent Furman home from Asheville with only heartbreak following a 64-63 overtime loss at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, were able to exorcise some 43-year old demons with a 88-79 win over No. 7 seed Chattanooga to win the 2023 Southern Conference Tournament championship. Making the heartbreak of a year ago even tougher was the fact the Paladins lost the game, despite going 5-for-5 from the field in overtime.

“This is a program night. This is a Furman University night. I wasn’t born in 1980, but I don’t have to hear that mess again,” head coach Bob Richey said in the post-game press conference.

There’s been a motto that Richey uses for his team. “The Game Honors Toughness.” Last season was a tough moment for Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson, and particularly seniors Alex Hunter and Conley Garrison, who had their final opportunity at a title ripped away after Jean-Baptiste’s dagger ripped nothing but net at the buzzer.

Furman heads to the NCAA Tournament with a 27-7 record, and the team will gather to celebrate, reflect and see who they will play in the Big Dance Sunday evening at 6 p.m. EST at Timmons Arena.

Furman’s Journey and Culture

When the final moments ticked off the clock in Monday night’s championship game, my emotions I held in check, and I as I observed many folks that have been associated with Furman basketball over the years, including many former players wandering the floor as the band played and confetti fell, the tears started to flow for many…Guys like Daniel Fowler, Geoff Beans, Jordan Lyons, Andrew Brown and even Anthony Thomas (1998-2002) could all feel the weight of the moment. It was one 43 years in the making. Others that have helped the lay the foundation over the past eight years. Monday night’s win over the Mocs was its 180^th since the start of the 2015-16 season—the most of any program in the Southern Conference during that span.

Furman has been successful, but it has seen some other of the league’s outstanding programs be successful during that span. East Tennessee State and Wofford both turned in two of the most successful seasons in Southern Conference history, as each won 30 games in consecutive seasons. UNCG won it during the COVID year and we all know what the Mocs did last year.

A pair of SoCon Players of the Year, in Devin Sibley (2014-2018) and Stephen Croone (2012-16), along with other players like Kris Acox (2013-17), Larry Wideman (2013-17) and John Davis III (2013-17) along with many more are worthy of mention.

That’s actually where Furman’s journey to March 6, 2023 started. It was March of 2015 when Furman made its “turn” as a program, and though it was a remarkable run to the tournament championship game in 2015 as the No. 10 seed, losing to top seed Wofford, 67-64.

What makes the 2014-15 team so important is they were kind of the team that brings it all together. Many had reason to transfer. In fact, the 2012-13 team had won just six games, which was ultimately Jeff Jackson’s final season as head coach. In the current era of NILs and such, if there had been all those options available disposal eight years ago, several of a talented freshman as well as upperclassmen might have transferred. But they didn’t, and it allowed head coach Niko Medved and then assistant coach Bob Richey build the foundation.

Two years later, the 2016-17 Paladins won a share of the regular-season Southern Conference crown, sharing the crown with East Tennessee State and UNC Greensboro. It was the first Southern Conference title for the program since 1990-91. But the Paladins were surprised in the opening round of the Southern Conference by the No. 7 seed Samford, who handed the Paladins a 67-63 loss in Asheville. Furman made a run to the semifinals to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament before losing its head coach, Niko Medved, to Drake along the way. Bob Richey’s first game as the then interim head coach came against St Peter’s. Yes, that St. Peter’s team, and it’s a game that Richey would probably likely to forget, as the Paladins

The Paladins would have good seasons in-between. The 2018-19 team achieved the school’s first-ever national ranking and were at-large qualifiers to the NIT and even hosted a home game against Wichita State at Timmons Arena that very same season. Highlighting the season were a 12-0 start to the season, which included wins over defending national champion and No. 8 Villanova (W, 76-68) and Loyola-Chicago (W, 60-58).

The Paladins won matched a school-record with 25 wins a year later, and then set a new mark for SoCon wins with 15, however, a disappointing 76-68 loss to No. 7 seed Wofford in Asheville ended the season abruptly for the Paladins and then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The limited 2020-21 schedule saw the Paladins have another great opportunity to win the SoCon Tournament and title, however, the Paladins would finish third in the final regular-season standings and headed to Asheville with a 16-8 record to face a dangerous No. 6 seed, in VMI. The Paladins lost a 91-90 overtime game. On that night, head coach Dan Earl and his star, Jake Stephens, had gotten the best of Furman.

Then came the 2021-22 season. The favorite was Chattanooga. Rightfully so, as the Mocs were loaded. Players like Malachi Smith, Silvio De Sousa, David Jean-Baptiste and Darius Banks were three four pillars of that team, and if you add in the ultimate glue guy AJ Caldwell, it was a truly complete team built for March success. As much as it probably hurt to lose that championship last season for the Paladins, in the end the Mocs had the best team. Not by much, but in the conference tournament the best team doesn’t always win the tournament. I can honestly say that it is not often the case where the best team does not win the SoCon Tournament. Furman showed its class in the championship game against a good Chattanooga team.

After last season, many felt Furman was cursed and found reasons to doubt them this season. When Jake Stephens helped the Mocs make a run to the championship by playing some outstanding basketball, many found reasons to believe the Mocs, despite playing a fourth game in four days.

Looking back, that team lost a lot of close games and was one of the youngest teams in the Southern Conference, with players like some of those mentioned above—Daniel Fowler and Geoff Beans among them on-hand to see the 2023 Paladins finish what they started—and if the rematch with Chattanooga was a full-circle moment for the current team by avenging that heartbreaker against the same opponent almost a full calendar year later, then March 6. 2023 surely was a full-circle moment for those former players—seeing the work they started get its finishing coat of paint.

And if culture can be narrowed down to its best description. It’s seeing those guys from eight years ago celebrate with Furman’s 2022-23 players. Not only that, there’s literally different eras represented. But there were players even beyond those eight years ago. I mentioned Thomas, but also several others that played in different eras. It was their night too. It was Furman’s night.

Probably the thing that brought it all home, though, was Jalen Slawson and a short conversation I had with him in the media room shortly after the press conference. Prior to doing a zoom call with the Charleston Post and Courier, Slawson pulled up a chair with the trophy his lap. I asked him what this meant to him and Mike Bothwell if he could of course speak for his senior teammate. He said in one word “legendary.” I replied that at times I thought there were times in my life when Furman had gotten so close and I wasn’t completely sure if I’d ever see Furman ever do it. He promptly replied…”Well, now you’ve seen it.” and then smiled. It was a cool moment and one moment that I will take with me for the rest of my life. It’s those memories that had been sought by so many who cheered for or simply covered the Paladins through the years.

Enduring both the good moments, many bad ones, and many nearly moments, which is what last March was. The thing for us who cover the Paladins. We had to write about last year. We get to write about this year. It’s pretty neat in that way.

“I am going to miss them. We are not done. We’ve got more to do. They’re great players but their person has grown so much in their time in this program. I told them this morning this win would be the reward. This isn’t validation. The growth is already evident. They became legendary tonight. I don’t know when or how but No. 20 and No. 3 are going in the rafters. They’re the all-time winningest players in Furman history. They came back this year to win this thing for the program,” Furman head coach Bob Richey said of his two fifth-year seniors during the post-game press conference.

For Slawson and Bothwell, they’ve now been a major part of 115 wins during their respective careers, with none greater than the one Monday night. The 115 wins by the two seniors are a school record.

In summation, Furman found its joy and its motivation as the season progressed. It’s won 14 of its last 15 games heading into the NCAA Tournament.

“We tried to just count it all joy. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. But, you know, glory to God for allowing, for allowing me to be the leader of this. This is just an unbelievable group of people. This isn’t a person. This isn’t a player. It’s a program. There’s a lot of people didn’t think we would do this. That’s really what got us going, to be honest with you, They thought last year was going to push this back. Instead, all it did was it motivated us to come together,”

An Unlikely hero to some…

We know what Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson can do, however, what might have surprised many this year is what sophomore point guard JP Pegues can do . He’s a dog. Straight up, he’s a bad man. I’ve watched the guy play all year and I have literally become one of the best players in the Southern Conference in the span of about 20 games. He’s been outstanding, so when he didn’t make any of the three all-conference teams, I was a bit taken aback.

There’s a clear answer now. Everyone knows who Pegues is. It’s funny, he was the Southern Conference Most Outstanding Player and he didn’t make any of the three all-conference teams or the All-Freshman team last year, as selected by the SoCon Coaches or Media.

Pegues has hit double figures in 15 of his last 16 games, and he averaged 21.0 PPG in three tournament games this past weekend. Pegues was joined by teammates Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson on the all-tournament first team.

Notes:

-With its 88-79 championship win over Chattanooga, the Paladin basketball program claimed its 180th game since the start of the 2015-16 season.

–The championship win means the Paladins will now make their seventh time the Furman basketball program has punched its NCAA Tournament ticket to college basketball’s greatest spectacle, as well as improving to 57-63 all-time in Southern Conference Tournament action.

–In addition to Pegues Most Outstanding Player award for the Paladins, the Paladins had two other performers garner recognition on the All-Tournament first team, with both Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell both ending up on the first-team.

–Furman has now won nine out of its last 10 games away from Timmons Arena.

–With his 55 points in the Southern Conference Tournament, Mike Bothwell now sits on 1,990 points in his career. He needs just 10 points in the NCAA Tournament to join the 2,000-point club in his career, becoming just the fifth Paladin to ever achieve that feat.

–The last time the Paladins made the NCAA Tournament in 1980 there was no three-point shot.

–Furman’s win over Chattanooga in the championship game saw the Paladins improve to 5-5 against the Mocs in Southern Conference Tournament action.

–Furman’s 88-79 win over UTC saw the Paladins improve to 7-5 in championship games all-time, as well as snap a three-game losing streak in the championship game dating back to 1981. The Paladins’ previous three championship game losses came in 2002 vs. Davidson (L, 57-62), ’15 vs. Wofford (L, 64-67), and ’22 vs. Chattanooga (L, 63-64). Two of those title game appearances (2002 and ’15) saw Furman advance to the league title game as the No. 6 seed (last place) in the SoCon’s South Division.

Championship Recap: Furman 88, Chattanooga 79

Furman got a team-high 20 points from Southern Conference Player of the Year Jalen Slawson, and got 17 from Tournament Most Outstanding Performer JP Pegues, as Furman captured its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1980 with an 88-79 win over Chattanooga in a rematch of the 2022 Southern Conference Tournament championship game, which the Mocs won on a buzzer-beater by David Jean-Batiste, 64-63, in overtime.

Furman’s win sees them improve to 27-7, while Chattanooga concludes its first season under head coach Dan Earl with an 18-17 mark.

Mike Bothwell scored all 16 of his points in the second half, and Alex Williams scored 10 of his points in the opening half. Slawson finished the night connecting on 8-of-12 shots from the field, including going 2-for-3 from long-range. He was also 2-for-4 from the line. The fifth-year senior from Summerville, S.C., also added five rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

The Mocs got another outstanding performance from Jake Stephens, who posted 25 points, while Jamal Johnson added 17 and A.J. Caldwell, who is one of holdovers from last season, finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.

Stephens set a Southern Conference record by scoring a combined 92 points in four games. The senior from Bunker Hill, WVa., finished the game with his 20-point effort coming on an 8-of-12 shooting performance, which included a 2-for-3 effort from three-point land. He was also 5-for-7 from the charity stripe.

Stephens spent one year at Chattanooga as a grad transfer from VMI, however, had his regular-season cut short due to a hand injury back on Jan. 18 in a loss to Furman. In addition to his 25-point scoring effort, Stephens also added eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists.

The Paladins were buoyed by a crowd of 6,102 rowdy fans, partial to Furman. The campus in Northern Greenville County is only about a 60-minute drive to the Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville.

It seemed like Timmons Arena North when the game tipped off. Stephens started the game in emphatic fashion for the defending champions, dunking home the first two points of the night.

The Paladins tied the game on a Marcus Foster layup before Chattanooga’s “glue guy”–AJ Caldwell–came down and connected on a three to make it a 5-2 Mocs lead.

With the game tied 5-5, Stephens got another easy layup to put the Mocs back up two. However, on the ensuing possession Alex Williams found himself free from top of the key, knocking down a three-pointer to give Furman the lead again, at 8-7, with 16:11 remaining in the opening half of play. It was the beginning of an 18-0 run for the ‘Dins, which would see them take a 30-11 lead following an Alex Williams layup at the 7:26 mark of the opening half.

However, prior to the half, the Mocs would proceed to go on what was a 15-0 run, getting back to within four, at 30-26, following a Caldwell layup with just over three minutes remaining in the opening half of basketball. The Mocs would get as close as three (36-33) late in the half when Jake Stephens converted a four-point play after being fouled by Tyrese Hughey at the top of the key.

The Paladins would carry a small amount of momentum into the locker room, however. when Pegues converted an acrobatic layup in the lane as the buzzer sounded, giving the Paladins a 38-33 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Mocs got as close as one, at 39-38, when Demetrius Davis canned a three-pointer just in front of the Chattanooga bench with 17:51 remaining. The Mocs would get it to within a bucket once again when a pair of Jamal Johnson charity shots got the Mocs to within 44-42 with 15:55 lefr.

It looked like the Paladins might start to put some distance between themselves and the Mocs on the scoreboard once again. A three-point play the old fashioned way by Furman’s Bothwell helped the Paladins to a 47-42 lead after knocking down his free throw with 15:40 remaining.

It was “make or break” time for the Mocs. The Paladins would eventually jump back out to a double-digit lead moments later when Williams made a running one-handed jumper in the paint to increase the Furman lead to 58-48 with 11:03 left.

The Paladin lead would grow to 12 with 7:25 left, as Pegues split two Mocs defenders in the paint and laid the ball off the right side of the window to give the Paladins a 69-57 lead.

The Mocs, however, were not done and had one more run in them. UTC would score eight-straight points over the next 2:23 of game action, with another Caldwell layup getting the Mocs to within 69-65 with 5:02 remaining following his layup.

With the Chattanooga crowd back into the game, it began to get loud once again inside the Harrah’s Cherokee Center. Slawson converted a pair of free throws to take the Furman lead back to six, however, Stephens was fouled on the other end and his rare 1-of-2 effort at the line kept the margin at five, 71-66, with 4:35 remaining.

The Paladins would then score five-straight with a pair of Bothwell free throws, and after Johnson turned it over, it set the stage for Marcus Foster to make the first of his two daggers from three-point land down the stretch, helping the Paladins back to a double-digit lead, at 76-66, as Foster knocked down his trey from the right corner with 2:51 remaining.

Three Mocs free throws got the Mocs back to within seven, however, the Paladins went back up by nine when Slawson took a bounce pass from Pegues before splitting two Mocs defenders down the lane and dunked it home for a nine-point Furman lead (78-69) with 1:59 remaining.

However, Foster’s second three-pointer from the left corner this time with 1:19 left, which was nothing but net, had Furman fans thinking the unthinkable, giving the Paladins a 12-point lead once again, at 81-69.

Furman never let the margin get closer than eight points the rest of the way, closing out a memorable win at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Bothwell went to the same place on the court where he had laid helplessly a year earlier only to watch Jean-Baptiste’s fall through the hoop as time expired last season, and tapped his chest a couple of times in excited joy, as Furman celebrated returning to the Big Dance for the first time since 1980.

As a team, the Paladins finished the contest connecting on 48.3% (28-of-58) shots from the field, including a 32.0% (8-of-25) effort from three-point land, and knocked down 80.0% (24-of-30) from the charity stripe to close out the championship win.

Chattanooga on the other hand, finished the night making 45.8% (27-of-59) of its shots from the field, including a 34.6% (9-of-24) from three-point range. The Mocs matched the Paladins’ 80.0% (16-of-20) from the charity stripe, which included a 12-for-16 effort in the second half.

Furman finished the night holding advantages in points in the paint (38-36), bench points (21-9), points from turnovers (13-6), and fast-break points (4-0). Chattanooga finished the contest holding advantages in second-chance points (6-4) and total assists (15-11). Both teams finished the contest with 34 rebounds.

SoCon Tournament Superlatives

All-Tournament Team
First team
Mike Bothwell, Furman
JP Pegues, Furman (MOP)
Jalen Slawson, Furman
Jake Stephens, Chattanooga
Vonterius Woolbright, Western Carolina

Second team
Jermaine Marshall, Samford
Jamal Johnson, Chattanooga
Tyzhaun Claude, Western Carolina
B.J. Mack, Wofford
Jackson Paveletzke, Wofford

Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Blake Harris, Furman

2023 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville, Asheville, N.C.

Friday, March 3 (ESPN+)
Game 1 – (8) Mercer 66, (9) The Citadel 41
Game 2 – (7) Chattanooga 92, (10) VMI 72

Saturday, March 4 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 3 – (1) Furman 73, (8) Mercer 58
Game 4 – (4) Western Carolina 69, (5) ETSU 57
Game 5 – (7) Chattanooga 85, (2) Samford 82
Game 6 – (6) Wofford 67, (3) UNCG 66

Sunday, March 5 (ESPNU/ESPNEWS)
Game 7 – (1) Furman 83, (4) Western Carolina 80
Game 8 – (7) Chattanooga 74, (6) Wofford 62

Monday, March 6 (ESPN)
(1) Furman 88, (7) Chattanooga 79

A Special Year for Furman Basketball

Furman’s year of basketball has been a memorable one to say the least, and aside from winning the regular-season and tournament titles during the 2022-23 season, there were several news-worthy items related to Furman’s hoops history that occurred during the off-season that should be mentioned.

Furman basketball suffered the losses of a pair of legends, who passed away back in 2022 during the off-season, with two other former players were recognized in distinction, with a pair of former players honored with Hall-of-Fame citations.

The first loss came with the death of former legendary head coach Joe Williams on March 26, 2022. Williams was Furman’s John Wooden, and sadly in late March, Furman’s most successful basketball coach passed away at the age of 88.

During an eight-year span from 1971-78, Williams helped the Paladins to those aforementioned five Southern Conference Tournament titles and subsequent NCAA Tournament invites.

Williams was also responsible for helping the Paladins to three regular-season Southern Conference titles as well. He posted an impressive 142-87 record during his time as the head coach of the Furman basketball program.

He was inducted into the 1996 Furman Athletics Hall-of-Fame, and following his successful run at the helm of the Paladin basketball program, Williams’ journey took him back to the Sunshine State, as he had first been hired at Furman as the head coach from Jacksonville University.

During his time in the River City, Williams coached the Dolphins, who were led by legendary big man Artis Gilmore, all the way to the 1970 National Championship game before losing to John Wooden’s juggernaut UCLA Bruins, 80-69.

He spent seven years as the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles basketball program from 1979-86 before retiring with an impressive 335-231 mark in 20 seasons as a head coach.

It was during that 1973-74 campaign that Williams would help mold arguably the most-gifted player to ever suit up for the Paladin basketball program, and one of the top players ever to play in the Palmetto State, in former Paladin big man Clyde Mayes (1972-75).

Mayes is one of six Paladins to have their jerseys hang from the rafters in Timmons Arena.

He was the pivotal player in Furman’s golden era of basketball, as he was the center piece leading the Paladin basketball program to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, while claiming the highest individual honor awarded to a SoCon basketball player in both 1974 and ‘75, taking home SoCon Player of the Year honors. Mayes was the first player in league history to claim three-straight first-team All-SoCon citations, and was named the league’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1974-75.

In 89 games during his illustrious Paladin career, the Greenville native scored 1,589-career points–sixth in Furman history at the conclusion of his career–and in addition to leading the Paladins to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, he also helped the Paladins to a pair of regular-season crowns.

During the 1973-74 season, Mayes helped lead Furman to its lone NCAA Tournament win, as the Paladins downed the Alex English-led South Carolina Gamecocks, with a 75-67 triumph over the newly independent Gamecocks program following a departure from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

At the time, the Gamecocks were coached by legendary Frank McGuire, who had helped mentor Dean Smith to go on to become one of the greatest head coaches in college basketball history at the University of North Carolina.

Mayes finished out his Paladin career averaging an impressive 17.9 PPG and 12.6 RPG and went on to be named South Carolina Player of the Year in 1975, and was recently also named to the SoCon’s 100th Anniversary Team.

Mayes was garnered several All-America citations in 1975, including garnering first-team honors from Basketball Weekly and Citizens Savings Foundation, while garnering second-team accolades according to The Sporting News and Converse, and third-team plaudits from the Associated Press.

It probably comes as little surprise that in the 1975 NBA Draft, Mayes was selected in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks, playing two seasons in the NBA before then plying his trade overseas in Europe for a successful 13-year professional basketball career.

While Mayes received his honors towards the end of May, becoming the eighth Paladin to garner the distinction as a member of the SoCon Hall-of-Fame, which sponsored its first Hall-of-Fame class in 2009, one of the most decorated basketball players and coaches in the history of the Palmetto State also passed during the off-season for Furman, as the Paladin basketball basketball family lost Nield Gordon at the age of 91 on May 2, 2022.

Like Mayes, Gordon is one of just six Paladins to ever have his number retired in the rafters of Furman’s Timmons Arena.

Gordon’s No. 27 uniform jersey hangs proudly in Timmons Arena, along with other retired numbers of Frank Selvy (No. 28), the aforementioned Mayes (No. 34), Jonathan Moore (No. 25), Darrell Floyd (No. 33), as well as former legendary head coach Lyles Alley.

A native of Brunswick, MD, Gordon had his jersey officially retired in 2002. Like Mayes, Gordon was part of one of the greatest eras of Furman basketball, playing alongside Selvy and Darrell Floyd (No. 33) after graduating from Wingate Junior College in 1951.

In his two seasons with the Paladins, Gordon helped Furman to finishes of 18-6 and 21-6, respectively.

During his 51-game career donning the Purple and White, Gordon averaged 22.6 PPG, which included an impressive 24.3 PPG average during his senior season.

Also as a senior in ‘53, Gordon was able to capture All-SoCon honors at a time when the league still included the likes of Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.

Following his playing career with the Paladin hoopers, Gordon went on to serve his nation in the the United States Army before returning to the states in 1956 and beginning a long, well-decorated coaching career at Belmont-Abbey.

After one season at the Abbey, Gordon returned to Furman where he would serve as an assistant coach for six years before becoming the head coach at Newberry in 1962, turning the program into an NAIA District 6 power house at the time.

Following his highly-successful stint in the midlands, Gordon took his coaching acumen and became a visionary for Winthrop athletics, serving nine years as both the head men’s basketball coach and the Director of Athletics. He helped establish the men’s athletic program at Winthrop, which was previously an female school.

Its basketball tradition has been highlighted a lot lately, and while it suffered the losses of a pair of legends, who recently passed away, it also in a positive way highlighted a program that has enjoyed some outstanding hardwood successes in its past.

While two legends passed away, another one will be honored by the Southern Conference, as he will be enshrined in the league’s Hall-of-Fame later this summer.

The first loss came with the death of former legendary head coach Joe Williams on March 26, 2022.

Williams was Furman’s John Wooden, and sadly in late March, Furman’s most successful basketball coach passed away at the age of 88.

During an eight-year span from 1971-78, Williams helped the Paladins to those aforementioned five Southern Conference Tournament titles and subsequent NCAA Tournament invites.

He spent seven years as the head coach of the Florida State Seminoles basketball program from 1979-86 before retiring with an impressive 335-231 mark in 20 seasons as a head coach.

Mayes is one of six Paladins to have their jerseys hang from the rafters in Timmons Arena.

Like Mayes, Gordon is one of just six Paladins to ever have his number retired in the rafters of Furman’s Timmons Arena.

In his two seasons with the Paladins, Gordon helped Furman to finishes of 18-6 and 21-6, respectively.

During his 51-game career donning the Purple and White, Gordon averaged 22.6 PPG, which included an impressive 24.3 PPG average during his senior season.

Also as a senior in ‘53, Gordon was able to capture All-SoCon honors at a time when the league still included the likes of Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.

Finally, Frank Selvy was inducted into the college basketball Hall-of-Fame back in November.

Also known as the “Corbin Comet”, Selvy was a scoring machine throughout his career as a Paladin. Hailing from Corbin, Ky., he starred for Furman from 1951-54.

In his 100-point game, Selvy shot 41-of-66 from the field and went 18-for-22 from the charity stripe in front of more than 4,000 fans on-hand at Furman’s then on-campus and downtown facility, Textile Hall. The game was also played before a state-wide viewing audience and was the first basketball game ever televised in the state of South Carolina.

Selvy also had a flair for the dramatic and reached the century mark with a 40-foot jumper at the buzzer. He finished his career with eight 50-point games and scored 40 or more 22 times.

During the 1953-54 season alone, Selvy scored an incredible 1,209 points on 45% shooting from the field and 80% shooting from the free throw line. This single season point total ranks first in Furman history. His 2,538 career points rank fourth in SoCon history.

Considering the fact Selvy played only three seasons and there was no 3-point shot as a part of the sport during that era, the scoring machine posted one of the most distinguished careers in the history of college basketball.

Selvy committed to Furman early in the recruiting process. Legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp saw him play in the 1950 East-West All-Star game and followed up with a scholarship offer, but Selvy remained true to his commitment to the Paladins and turned down the offer to play for the Wildcats.

In the early 1950s players weren’t allowed to play as freshmen, and so in only three seasons as a Paladin, Selvy was the first player in college basketball history to score 1,000 points in a career and averaged a nation-leading 41.7 point per game in his senior season of 1953-54. It was the second year in a row that Selvy led college basketball in scoring average, having paced the nation as a junior as well with 29.5 point per game.

As you might expect, Selvy racked up plenty of national honors throughout his career. He was a three-time All-SoCon selection, a two-time SoCon Player of the Year, a two-time consensus UPI and Associated Press NCAA All-American (1952-53 and 1953-54).

He was selected first overall in the 1954 Draft by the Baltimore Bullets. He made two NBA All-Star Teams over a career that spanned nine seasons, which was interrupted for three years by military service.

Selvy is now a member of six Halls of Fame: the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the Furman’s Athletic Hall-of-Fame, the Southern Conference Hall-of-Fame, the Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame, the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Sports Hall-of-Fame.

When Selvy played in the Southern Conference, the league included current ACC members North Carolina, North Carolina State and Duke as well as South Carolina from the SEC.

Selvy Roy Williams (coach of North Carolina and Kansas), Larry Miller (player at North Carolina), Jerry Krause (coach of Eastern Washington and Gonzaga), Lon Krueger (coach of Texas Pan-American, Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas State, Florida and UNLV), Richard Hamilton (player at UConn), Jim Calhoun (coach of Northeastern, UConn and Saint Joseph), John Beilein (coach of Michigan, Richmond, West Virginia, Canisius, Lemoyne, Nazareth and Erie Community College) and Jimmy Walker (player at Providence). The ceremony was held Nov. 20, 2022 in Indianapolis.