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After three days in the woods, I've resurfaced, ready for diving deep in the tournament's waters. Savor and rejoice!
Making his second NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons, Furman’s Bob Richey has steadily built himself to become one of the most respected and well-paid head coaches in mid-major basketball.
And why would he leave anytime soon? Their on-campus building received a $40 million upgrade following Richey’s extension in 2023 that is paying him reportedly more than $2 million per year, a reward to him essentially building the program from scratch, in tandem to the city of Greenville, SC becoming one of the fastest growing cities in America.
As I mentioned earlier, Furman is a rare non-Ivy/Patriot mid-major that ranks within the top 10 percentile of roster continuity (46%, 30th in the nation)
Richey’s trademarks on offense are its motion-heavy, read-and-react system, but this year, the team has been a bit less reliant on constant off-ball screening and more willing to play through primary creators late in the clock, which has been thanks to the explosiveness of super-freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, more on him later.
Compared to past peak Furman teams, which were extremely egalitarian and assist-driven, this group leans slightly more into ball screens and mismatch hunting, especially against switching defenses. They remain a high-volume three-point shooting team, but the shot profile has shifted subtly toward drive-and-kick creation rather than purely scripted half-court movement. Their efficiency at the three-point line has also dropped too.
Defensively, Furman has moved toward a more contain-and-recover man-to-man approach, prioritizing limiting dribble penetration rather than gambling for turnovers like some of their earlier teams. Compared to prior years, they’ve been less disruptive but more structurally sound, with fewer full-denial sequences and more emphasis on staying out of rotation.
They’ll still mix in pressure and occasional switching, but overall the identity is more about discipline, positioning, and defensive rebounding than the chaos-oriented stretches you sometimes saw in earlier Richey teams. For example, Furman’s first four years under Richey ranked top-80 in defensive turnover ratio. This year, 342nd in the nation!
In terms of analytics, this year’s Furman team is not only the lowest rank analytically during Richey’s tenure: the offensive efficiency has gotten lower for five consecutive seasons while their overall KenPom ratings have been on a downward trend throughout that stretch.
Bottom line, Furman is where they are today thanks to the heroics of 6-foot-5 freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, a Mattapan, MA native who received over two dozen mid-major offers out of the Brooks School, but not a single offer from high-major teams [thanks, #portalszn].
I can’t prove this statistically, but I’m sure Alex Wilkins is the only player that led his conference in both possession usage (34.4%) and shot usage (31.7%) as few players in the NCAA Tournament are more essential to the success of his team than Wilkins.
Capable of scoring at all three levels while also serving as the team’s primary playmaker, Wilkins is particularly dangerous as a shooter both off the dribble and in catch-and-shoot situations, with the confidence to take and make big shots despite his less-than-stellar 31 3P% vs D1 opponents. Like many freshman engines, he can be turnover-prone and is still working toward greater strength and efficiency consistency when defenses key in on him, so having a stellar defender like Demary on him all game will make it damn hard for Furman to run their stuff, even though Wilkins does a great job drawing fouls (5.2 per 40, 227th in the nation).
Outside of Wilkins, Richey’s eight-man rotation plays minutes at a pretty-even rate and he mixes-and-matches his lineups pretty freely, so there aren’t really any dominant or ubiquitous rotations to hone in on.
With that being said, starting center Cooper Bowser is the team’s second most important offensive weapon. Boasting the fifth best 2P% in the nation (76.1%) and 28th best offensive rating, per KenPom, the six-eleven junior anchors the interior primarily on dunks, cuts, and interior touches rather than self-created offense. He’s a major vertical and rim-running presence who thrives in Furman’s spacing, showing improved offensive production this year compared to earlier seasons while still operating mostly as a play-finisher. Defensively, he’s the backbone of the team with shot-blocking and rim protection (he was a 2024-25 SoCon All-Defensive Team selection) though his impact is more about positioning and length than switchability or perimeter mobility.
Starting alongside Bowser is Charles Johnston, a senior Aussie that is a constant double-double threat and he finished this season with the team’s best defensive efficiency ratings, per EvanMiya.com. The 6-11 Johnston is a versatile forward who impacts the game with his motor, physicality, and ability to stretch the floor, giving them a frontcourt piece who can score both inside and out while playing within their system.
Johnson is not a primary creator but is effective attacking closeouts, finishing through contact, and contributing on the glass, often serving as a glue guy alongside higher-usage guards. Defensively, he brings toughness and flexibility, capable of guarding multiple positions and battling in the post, though like much of Furman’s roster his value comes more from positional discipline and effort than elite length or athleticism.
Outside of Wilkins, starting two-guard Eddrin Bronson is likely Furman’s second most athletic and improvisational shot creator. Like Wilkins, the six-four Bronson has good positional length, but is lean, quick and brings pace and on-ball creation, thriving as a downhill driver who can collapse defenses and create for others while also knocking down perimeter shots when left open. Bronson plays with confidence and energy, often serving as a spark offensively, though his efficiency can fluctuate due to shot selection and size limitations around the rim and he can be turnover-prone.
Defensively, he competes and applies pressure at the point of attack, and he’s a pretty decent shot blocking guard, but his over-pursing can put himself and his teammates in awkward positions. I can see him become a stud if he sticks around Furman for the next two years. When Wilkins is on the bench, Bronson is the team’s de facto point guard.
Furman’s two high-major transfers – Tom House (Florida State) and Asa Thomas (Clemson) – are six-seven floor-spacers who are liabilities on the defensive end, are streaky, but can get hot in a flash. Thomas has five 20-point games this season while House has three. Due to their redundancy in style and lack of versatility, House and Thomas rarely share the floor and are interchangeable as 2- or 3-guards.
Splitting time as combo forwards, senior Ben Vander Wal and freshman Cole Bowser bring a physical and blue-collar element to Furman. Both players are strong positional rebounders and rank amongst the team’s best defenders, with the younger Bowser brother owning arguably the best switchability on the team.
The six-seven, 220-pound Vander Wal is arguably the team’s second-best passer/facilitator and he finished SoCon conference play with the best eFG% (he’s not a three-point shooter, though) and the 4th best offensive rating, but he’s prone to hack-a-Shaq as he has made less than 40% of his free-throw attempts this season.
On offense, Cole Bowser is low-usage, but I think he’s got a ton of potential long-term. Smaller than his older brother at six-six, 200-pounds, Bowser fits their system very well as a floor-spacing, three-level scoring forward capable of knocking down perimeter shots and making smart, quick decisions within their motion offense rather than creating his own looks. Even though he’s a freshman, he plays with good feel and positional awareness, contributing as a connector piece who can pass, space, and keep the ball moving while chipping in on the glass. Defensively, he’s fundamentally sound and understands rotations, using positioning and effort to hold up, though he’s not an elite rim protector or high-end athlete.
Even though their analytics are not as pretty as what we typically see at Furman under Richey, they’ve got a true star with Wilkins and good depth all-around aside from a lack of steady, reliable guards that limit mistakes (which, to me, is their biggest bugaboo).
Ultimately, UConn is favored by ~20 minutes because their defense can exploit Furman’s mistake-prone offense while making it hard for the Paladins to breathe on the perimeter and battle inside for second-chance points. While Furman’s defense is good at forcing iso play, their defense has annually been a team weakness, despite the group’s overall impressive length (fifth tallest team in D1) as their lack of muscle will provide UConn with a huge physical edge, especially down low as Reed/Reibe are 260 lb+ compared to Furman’s center duo that has an average weight of 220 lbs.
Let the games begin!
Making his second NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons, Furman’s Bob Richey has steadily built himself to become one of the most respected and well-paid head coaches in mid-major basketball.
And why would he leave anytime soon? Their on-campus building received a $40 million upgrade following Richey’s extension in 2023 that is paying him reportedly more than $2 million per year, a reward to him essentially building the program from scratch, in tandem to the city of Greenville, SC becoming one of the fastest growing cities in America.
As I mentioned earlier, Furman is a rare non-Ivy/Patriot mid-major that ranks within the top 10 percentile of roster continuity (46%, 30th in the nation)
Richey’s trademarks on offense are its motion-heavy, read-and-react system, but this year, the team has been a bit less reliant on constant off-ball screening and more willing to play through primary creators late in the clock, which has been thanks to the explosiveness of super-freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, more on him later.
Compared to past peak Furman teams, which were extremely egalitarian and assist-driven, this group leans slightly more into ball screens and mismatch hunting, especially against switching defenses. They remain a high-volume three-point shooting team, but the shot profile has shifted subtly toward drive-and-kick creation rather than purely scripted half-court movement. Their efficiency at the three-point line has also dropped too.
Defensively, Furman has moved toward a more contain-and-recover man-to-man approach, prioritizing limiting dribble penetration rather than gambling for turnovers like some of their earlier teams. Compared to prior years, they’ve been less disruptive but more structurally sound, with fewer full-denial sequences and more emphasis on staying out of rotation.
They’ll still mix in pressure and occasional switching, but overall the identity is more about discipline, positioning, and defensive rebounding than the chaos-oriented stretches you sometimes saw in earlier Richey teams. For example, Furman’s first four years under Richey ranked top-80 in defensive turnover ratio. This year, 342nd in the nation!
In terms of analytics, this year’s Furman team is not only the lowest rank analytically during Richey’s tenure: the offensive efficiency has gotten lower for five consecutive seasons while their overall KenPom ratings have been on a downward trend throughout that stretch.
Bottom line, Furman is where they are today thanks to the heroics of 6-foot-5 freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, a Mattapan, MA native who received over two dozen mid-major offers out of the Brooks School, but not a single offer from high-major teams [thanks, #portalszn].
I can’t prove this statistically, but I’m sure Alex Wilkins is the only player that led his conference in both possession usage (34.4%) and shot usage (31.7%) as few players in the NCAA Tournament are more essential to the success of his team than Wilkins.
Capable of scoring at all three levels while also serving as the team’s primary playmaker, Wilkins is particularly dangerous as a shooter both off the dribble and in catch-and-shoot situations, with the confidence to take and make big shots despite his less-than-stellar 31 3P% vs D1 opponents. Like many freshman engines, he can be turnover-prone and is still working toward greater strength and efficiency consistency when defenses key in on him, so having a stellar defender like Demary on him all game will make it damn hard for Furman to run their stuff, even though Wilkins does a great job drawing fouls (5.2 per 40, 227th in the nation).
Outside of Wilkins, Richey’s eight-man rotation plays minutes at a pretty-even rate and he mixes-and-matches his lineups pretty freely, so there aren’t really any dominant or ubiquitous rotations to hone in on.
With that being said, starting center Cooper Bowser is the team’s second most important offensive weapon. Boasting the fifth best 2P% in the nation (76.1%) and 28th best offensive rating, per KenPom, the six-eleven junior anchors the interior primarily on dunks, cuts, and interior touches rather than self-created offense. He’s a major vertical and rim-running presence who thrives in Furman’s spacing, showing improved offensive production this year compared to earlier seasons while still operating mostly as a play-finisher. Defensively, he’s the backbone of the team with shot-blocking and rim protection (he was a 2024-25 SoCon All-Defensive Team selection) though his impact is more about positioning and length than switchability or perimeter mobility.
Starting alongside Bowser is Charles Johnston, a senior Aussie that is a constant double-double threat and he finished this season with the team’s best defensive efficiency ratings, per EvanMiya.com. The 6-11 Johnston is a versatile forward who impacts the game with his motor, physicality, and ability to stretch the floor, giving them a frontcourt piece who can score both inside and out while playing within their system.
Johnson is not a primary creator but is effective attacking closeouts, finishing through contact, and contributing on the glass, often serving as a glue guy alongside higher-usage guards. Defensively, he brings toughness and flexibility, capable of guarding multiple positions and battling in the post, though like much of Furman’s roster his value comes more from positional discipline and effort than elite length or athleticism.
Outside of Wilkins, starting two-guard Eddrin Bronson is likely Furman’s second most athletic and improvisational shot creator. Like Wilkins, the six-four Bronson has good positional length, but is lean, quick and brings pace and on-ball creation, thriving as a downhill driver who can collapse defenses and create for others while also knocking down perimeter shots when left open. Bronson plays with confidence and energy, often serving as a spark offensively, though his efficiency can fluctuate due to shot selection and size limitations around the rim and he can be turnover-prone.
Defensively, he competes and applies pressure at the point of attack, and he’s a pretty decent shot blocking guard, but his over-pursing can put himself and his teammates in awkward positions. I can see him become a stud if he sticks around Furman for the next two years. When Wilkins is on the bench, Bronson is the team’s de facto point guard.
Furman’s two high-major transfers – Tom House (Florida State) and Asa Thomas (Clemson) – are six-seven floor-spacers who are liabilities on the defensive end, are streaky, but can get hot in a flash. Thomas has five 20-point games this season while House has three. Due to their redundancy in style and lack of versatility, House and Thomas rarely share the floor and are interchangeable as 2- or 3-guards.
Splitting time as combo forwards, senior Ben Vander Wal and freshman Cole Bowser bring a physical and blue-collar element to Furman. Both players are strong positional rebounders and rank amongst the team’s best defenders, with the younger Bowser brother owning arguably the best switchability on the team.
The six-seven, 220-pound Vander Wal is arguably the team’s second-best passer/facilitator and he finished SoCon conference play with the best eFG% (he’s not a three-point shooter, though) and the 4th best offensive rating, but he’s prone to hack-a-Shaq as he has made less than 40% of his free-throw attempts this season.
On offense, Cole Bowser is low-usage, but I think he’s got a ton of potential long-term. Smaller than his older brother at six-six, 200-pounds, Bowser fits their system very well as a floor-spacing, three-level scoring forward capable of knocking down perimeter shots and making smart, quick decisions within their motion offense rather than creating his own looks. Even though he’s a freshman, he plays with good feel and positional awareness, contributing as a connector piece who can pass, space, and keep the ball moving while chipping in on the glass. Defensively, he’s fundamentally sound and understands rotations, using positioning and effort to hold up, though he’s not an elite rim protector or high-end athlete.
Even though their analytics are not as pretty as what we typically see at Furman under Richey, they’ve got a true star with Wilkins and good depth all-around aside from a lack of steady, reliable guards that limit mistakes (which, to me, is their biggest bugaboo).
Ultimately, UConn is favored by ~20 minutes because their defense can exploit Furman’s mistake-prone offense while making it hard for the Paladins to breathe on the perimeter and battle inside for second-chance points. While Furman’s defense is good at forcing iso play, their defense has annually been a team weakness, despite the group’s overall impressive length (fifth tallest team in D1) as their lack of muscle will provide UConn with a huge physical edge, especially down low as Reed/Reibe are 260 lb+ compared to Furman’s center duo that has an average weight of 220 lbs.
Let the games begin!
