Hien, Furman set to begin quest for another ring

Left to right, Furman seniors Garrett Hien, PJay Smith and Nick Anderson celebrate
after Hien reached 1,000 points in his career. Photo courtesy of Furman

During the last basketball offseason, much was made about all the talent Furman lost to the transfer portal. A school losing four of its five leading scorers that accounted for 59.2 percent of the scoring certainly was noteworthy, especially for a program that had not really experienced that before.

But there was virtually no talk about what the Paladins had coming back. Nothing much about PJay Smith, who went on to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week honors four times this season on his way to first team All-SoCon honors. Nothing about the most experienced veteran Paladin returning and the team's heart and soul, Garrett Hien. Hien, who already etched his place in Furman history with perhaps the biggest steal and assist ever against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament in 2023, went on to make some clutch plays this season in helping the Paladins go 23-8.

That offseason talk put a little bit of a chip on the shoulders of veterans like Hien and Tyrese Hughey.

"The entire offseason our message was 'they're not going to recognize us.' I mean that was the first thing (Furman coach Bob) Richey said at our first meeting in June," Hien said. "We knew we had guys back that were forward pieces and we knew we were bringing really good pieces in. Our whole mentality in the summer was to build that camaraderie and connection.

"We knew people weren't going to believe in us, but all that matters is in our room. The 20 people in there who think we're going to win."

Folks certainly had to take notice in November and December as Furman built a 12-1 non-conference record with its only loss coming at then No. 1-ranked Kansas. That record was built in a true team fashion. By Dec. 4, 11 different Paladins had at least one double-figure scoring game.

After a blowout win at Western Carolina to open SoCon play on New Year's Day, the Paladins went on a small roller coaster of ups and downs during league play. Furman never won or lost more than two SoCon consecutive games before ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

If there ever was a time for Furman to be recognized like they want to be, it's this weekend as all eyes are on Asheville for the SoCon Tournament. The fifth-seeded Paladins open tourney play by facing No. 4-seed and reigning league champion Samford (22-9) Saturday at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the last of four quarterfinals at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

The 45 combined wins for the Paladins and Bulldogs are the most for a quarterfinal matchup in the 104-year history of the SoCon Tournament. While Furman finished one game back of Samford and ETSU, which tied for third place, the Paladins swept the Bulldogs this season. While it certainly is hard to beat a team three times, it's also hard to be a good team once. To accomplish its goal this weekend, Furman will have to beat a trio of good teams once.

The Paladins enter coming off a pair of thrilling wins over in-state rivals for very different reasons. Last Saturday, Smith drilled the game-winning three with one second left in Furman's 78-75 win at Wofford. Smith's heroics were set up by a huge three from Hien when the Paladins were trailing by four late. Three days earlier, Furman closed out its home season at The Well in style. The Paladins raced out to a 44-11 halftime lead over The Citadel and went on to an 85-42 win, the most lopsided score in the SoCon this season.

"The non-conference is important and so is the conference season, but this is the championship phase and that's when you want to get hot," Hien said. "I think that's what we've kind of done. ... To go into Ashville with momentum and feel like we're one of the hottest teams in the league, I think will be good for us."

In college basketball in 2025, team chemistry often has to develop quickly with new players shuffling in and out of programs through the transfer portal. Furman has had success with that this season with newcomers like Nick Anderson and Tom House. Anderson is second on the team in scoring behind Smith and earned third team All-SoCon honors. Meanwhile, House has been a valuable "third scorer" down the stretch as he long range shooting ability has taken some pressure off Smith and Anderson.

However, team camaraderie can get perhaps its biggest boost from veterans who've played together multiple seasons like Hien and Hughey. That level of camaraderie was evident late in the blowout win over Citadel. After Hien hit a three-pointer to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career, the Furman bench celebrated wildly. Hien immediately checked out to a big hug from Richey and then the rest of his coaches and teammates.

"He's got 100 wins. He's scored 1,000 points. He's got a conference championship. He's got an NCAA Tournament win. I mean, he's got everything and more out of this experience that he wanted to get out of it," Richey said of Hien. "He was loyal and he stayed the course. Garrett's had different spouts of adversity of having to work through some things and figure some things out, but he always stayed committed and loyal. The reward you get out of that is that you see real growth.

"When you see guys stick to why they came here, for the reasons they came here and then you see the payoff for it. You could see the team's energy when he hit that three and just how much that meant to the whole team." 

Hien and Hughey were valuable parts of that 2022-23 SoCon championship team, as was junoir Ben VanderWal. Davis Molnar took a redshirt that season, but he was still part of that team. Hien said those four have tried to talk about what it takes to be a champion with others on the team since they've been there and done that.

 

"We understand the difference in if we have a good game versus having a great game," Hien said. "Every possession's got to be like it's the championship on Monday night. That's what it all comes down to in this league."