Furman Paladins men's basketball

The Furman Paladins men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Southern Conference. They are currently led by head coach Bob Richey and play their home games at the Timmons Arena. In 2018, the Paladins entered the College Basketball AP Poll for the first time in program history, coming in at number 23 on December 10. Furman made an appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 2023 after having last appeared in 1980, the 43-year absence being the 15th longest drought in NCAA Division I Tournament history. During that tournament Furman would upset 4-seeded Virginia in the first round.

Furman Paladins men's basketball
2024–25 Furman Paladins men's basketball team
University	Furman University
First season	1908–09; 117 years ago
All-time record	1,387–1,339 (.504)
Athletic director	Jason Donnelly
Head coach	Bob Richey (8th season)
Conference	SoCon
Location	Greenville, South Carolina
Arena	Timmons Arena (capacity: 4,000)
Nickname	Paladins
Colors	Royal purple and white[1]
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1974
NCAA tournament appearances
1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1980, 2023
Conference tournament champions
1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1980, 2023
Conference regular-season champions
1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1991, 2017, 2023

Season-by-season results

Main article: List of Furman Paladins men's basketball seasons

Postseason

NCAA Division I Tournament results

The Paladins have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament seven times. Their combined record is 2–8.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1971		First Round	Fordham	L 74–105
1973		First Round	Syracuse	L 82–83
1974		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	South Carolina Pittsburgh Providence	W 75–67 L 78–81 L 83–95
1975		First Round	Boston College	L 76–82
1978	3Q	First Round	(1L) Indiana	L 62–63
1980	10	First Round	(7) Tennessee	L 69–80
2023	13	First Round Second Round	(4) Virginia (5) San Diego State	W 68–67 L 52–75

NIT results

The Paladins have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 3 times. Their combined record is 0–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1991	First Round	West Virginia	L 67–86
2019	First Round	Wichita State	L 70–76
2025	First Round	North Texas	L 64–75

CIT results

The Paladins have appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) three times. Their combined record is 3W–3L.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	First Round	East Tennessee State	L 63–76
2016	First Round Second Round	Louisiana–Monroe Louisiana–Lafayette	W 58–57 L 72–80
2017	First Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	USC Upstate Campbell Saint Peter's	W 79–57 W 79–64 L 51–77

Retired numbers

Furman has retired six jersey numbers.

Furman Paladins retired numbers
No.	Player	Career
25	Jonathan Moore	1976–1980
27	Nield Gordon	1951–1953
28	Frank Selvy	1951–1954
33	Darrell Floyd	1953–1956
34	Clyde Mayes	1972–1975
50	Jerry Smith	1960–1963

Notable players

• Jordan Loyd (born 1993), basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, formerly in the NBA.