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| Furman returned to the scene of one of the biggest wins in school history when it practiced at the Palestra in Philadelphia this week. Photo courtesy of Furman |
Whether it's history from 52 years ago or three years ago, Furman hopes it repeats itself Friday.
The last time the Paladins opened NCAA Tournament play in Philadelphia, they defeated South Carolina, 75-67, in 1974. The last time Furman, Virginia and Tennessee played in the same building in the first round, the 13th-seeded Paladins stunned the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, 68-67, in Orlando in 2023.
History repeating itself for Furman Friday would be an even bigger stunner. The 15th-seeded Paladins will close out a quadruple header at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena against No. 2 seed Connecticut at approximately 10 p.m. on TBS in the first round of the East Regional. The day began with the Midwest Region's No. 3 seed Virginia taking on Wright State, followed by sixth-seeded Tennessee against Miami, Ohio. The night session begins with the East's No. 7 seed UCLA facing UCF at 7:25 p.m.
When Furman cut down the nets as Southern Conference champions in Asheville three years ago, it ended a 43-year NCAA Tournament appearance drought. At the time, Paladins coach Bob Richey said he was relieved to never hear about that drought again. After pushing all the right buttons in Asheville this year, it was more a sense of relief to answer those who were ready to throw in Furman's towel during the rough patches of this season.
"What these guys grew through, it was suffering and a blessing at the same time. We had seven sellouts, seven national televised games, the eighth most wins in school history. Everybody was acting like, 'oh my gosh, what's wrong with Furman?' I mean, it's a 22-win season. We've just gotten kind of used to that around here a little bit ... but then you lose four out of five and you've got people ready to write you off," Richey said following the NCAA selection show on Sunday. "Fortunately, the locker room didn't write themselves off and stayed the course. It's a great lesson that you've got to keep trying.
"As a coach, you know that five guys, one ball playing together, that's what wins. But when you can visibly see it and confirm it, it was like, 'wow, that's the best ball we've played all year (in Asheville).' We played to the values of this program and that was probably the most rewarding thing of the week for me."
Practice at the Palestra
Richey describes himself as "pretty routine-driven," and that tournament experience three years ago gave him a routine to go by this week. But in 2023, Furman played in the opening noon time slot on that first Thursday of the tournament. Playing in the last time slot of the opening round on a Friday this season helped him call a pretty special audible.
"We were supposed to practice in Greenville (Wednesday) morning before we flew out," Richey said during a Thursday press conference. "Since we haven't played since last Monday, practice was getting a tad monotonous and I just felt like we needed to change the energy."
That change in energy happened when the Paladins instead practiced Wednesday night at the historic Palestra - the same arena where Furman knocked off the Gamecocks in the 1974 tournament.
"It was really neat. I haven't been in there before. It was really nice of Penn to host us there last night and later today (Thursday)," Richey said. "It was just a reminder to me just how good the game's been to me individually and to our program and to our players, and you just see all the history there and just to realize that you're part of it. It's those moments that you just want to soak in and we had a pretty spirited practice."
Vander Wal's chance at history
When Ben Vander Wal takes the floor Friday, he will become the first Paladin to play in two NCAA Tournaments since Jonathan Moore did so in 1978 and 1980. A win Friday would make Vander Wal the first Paladin to ever win two tournament games. It will be a really fun March for Furman if Vander Wal could challege Clyde Mayes' school record for playing in the most tournament games. Thanks to three consecutive SoCon championships from 1973-75 - and thanks to a consolation game in 1974, Mayes played in a total of five tournament games.
Loaded East regional
The Paladins are part of the most historically loaded regional in this year's tournament. Seven of the 16 teams in the East have combined for 31 national championships. Six opening round matchups include at least one head coach that ranks in the top 25 winning percentage among active coaches with at least 100 games under their belt.
That includes No. 1-ranked Jon Scheyer of Duke, No. 5 Bill Self of Kansas, No. 6 Rick Pitino of St. John's and No. 10 Tom Izzo of Michigan State. It also includes a coach from the Furman-UConn matchup, but not the one many outside of Greenville might expect. Richey is 23rd on the list having gone 203-93 (.686) in his nine seasons at Furman, while Huskies coach Dan Hurley has a career winning percentage of .658 in stops at Wagner, Rhode Island and UConn.
Hurley does have a record of 194-74 (.724) with the Huskies, including national championships in 2023 and 2024. The 2023 national title team defeated San Diego State, which knocked off Furman in round two, in the finals.
"We know we're up against a great opponent, and one of the best programs in college basketball, especially here in this recent decade of what Coach Hurley has been able to do at UConn," Richey said. "Our guys are really excited. I think we're playing, by far, the best basketball of the season right now."
Wilkins earns multiple honors
After becoming the first freshman to earn SoCon Tournament MVP/MOP honors since Davidson's Steph Curry in 2007, Furman's Alex Wilkins continues to rack up accolades. While he wasn't named to the All-SoCon's first team this season, Wilkins was the only SoCon player on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-South Atlantic District First Team. Wilkins was joined on the 10-player first team by the likes of Duke's Cameron Boozer and North Carolina's Caleb Wilson.
Wilkins averaged 21.7 points per game at the SoCon Tournament, including a career-best 34 points in the Paladins' semifinal round win over UNC Greensboro. That performance tied Jonathan Moore's school freshman record, which he established versus Georgia during the 1976-77 season. Wilkins' 34 points marked the most by a Paladin in SoCon Tournament play since Roy Simpson scored 36 versus East Carolina in the 1972 final.
Wilkins has also been announced as a finalist for the 2025-26 Kyle Macy Award, which is presented annually to the top freshman in Division I college basketball. He's one of 30 finalists for the 2026 Lou Henson Award, which is given annually to the Division I mid-major player of the year,
As you might expect, Wilkins has the full attention of UConn.
"He has great size and is a really talented player. I think Coach utilizes him really well offensively," Hurley said Thursday. "In a lot of ways, it's like looking in the mirror offensively. We do a lot of the same things. ... You don't see as many freshmen as productive as he is, can score on all three levels like he can or is dangerous as a passer."
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