Furman University basketball embraces ups and downs by prioritizing a meaningful team culture
The $40 million Timmons Arena transformation project at Furman University is underway.
The upgrades aren’t yet apparent to passersby—the arena looks unchanged from the parking lot. But visitors to the basketball offices inside immediately see the difference. There’s new life, new energy there: glass-paneled conference rooms, updated coaches’ offices, and a steady diet of Paladin purple.
Head men’s basketball coach Bob Richey says the new look reflects a new identity for a program that played David to University of Virginia’s Goliath in round one of the NCAA tournament in April, knocking the Cavaliers off in a 68-67 thriller.
Impact Over Instant Success
At a time when athletics programs around the nation seek instant success through the transfer portal and name, image, and likeness programs, Richey says Furman is rooted in something more sustainable.
“What about development?” Richey asks. “What about taking an 18-year-old and developing him, leading him, until he walks across the [graduation] stage as a 22-year-old? That’s the transformational part of the process, and we’re losing that [in college sports].”
Richey is young and charismatic, yet insists he’s boring. “I have my faith, my family, my program. That’s it—I’m kinda boring. But it gives me purpose.”
Step inside his office, and you’ll get hints of a man who values clarity and efficiency. There’s a well-organized desk, a few chairs, and a fading newspaper clipping from the team’s tournament win on a coffee table. A pair of bookcases fill a wall, their shelves lined with titles on leadership, organizational excellence, integrity, and team building.
Richey says they’re constructing a program built on a culture that embraces hardships and setbacks, like losing on a freakish, last-second, overtime buzzer-beater to Chattanooga in the 2022 Southern Conference championship. Had the Paladins won, they would’ve done something a Furman men’s basketball team hadn’t done since 1980—earn an NCAA tournament berth.
Learning from Loss
Richey says that moment defined what the program has since become.
“You have to abide in the suffering long enough to let the suffering teach you what it needs to teach you,” he says. “Blessing and suffering are interrelated. This program has gone through suffering, and suddenly connected with the suffering in an unbelievable story of blessing that can transform a team, a campus, even a community.”
It’s why Richey pushes back on those who say he should adjust to the new normal brought on by the portal and NIL. “We’ve taken three players in the portal in three years,” he says. “We just beat UVA in the tournament and were one of few teams there where all five starters had only worn one jersey.”
He mentions former players such as forward Jaylen Slawson, who, as a freshman in 2018–2019, had more fouls than points and who, in June, was Furman’s first NBA draft pick since 1984. “That’s impact. That’s influence,” Richey says. “[Jalen] still calls me or texts me almost every day.”
Nowadays, Richey says leaders often must choose between security, wealth, and success versus simply making a difference. He says he prefers the latter. “I want to impact lives,” he says. “When I lay my head on my pillow at night, I remember all of this is temporary. As a person of faith, I have an opportunity as a coach to lead young men, and I take that very seriously.”
Greenville’s Team
Richey’s Upstate connections run deep, and as Furman’s fortunes shift on the basketball court, Richey hopes the community will rally around it.
“I was raised in South Carolina, spent most of my life here, went to college at North Greenville University,” he says. “My wife was born and raised in Greenville. For us, Greenville matters.”
He understands Furman University athletics often gets lost in a landscape dominated by Clemson University just up the road and the University of South Carolina down in Columbia. But excellence, he says, isn’t limited by size and scope.
“Great basketball knows no level, no limit,” he says. “We’re chasing excellence. What we’re trying to tell Greenville is, ‘Give us a shot, get to know our players, our program. Everyone who’s done it keeps coming back.'”
What’s next for Furman University Basketball
Head to Timmons Arena in Greenville to check these upcoming basketball matchups. The Southern Conference Championships begin March 8.
February 4, Furman vs. UNC Greensboro, 2 p.m.
Feb 14, Furman vs. VMI, 7 p.m.
Feb. 18, Furman vs. Chattanooga, 2 p.m.
Feb. 24, Furman vs. Wofford, 2 p.m.
March 2, Furman vs. Mercer, 2 p.m.
