SoCon Play Gets Underway to Finish Out 2025

With the first three games in the book, we know a little more about what the race will be like in the Southern Conference race this season. 

We've had a couple of close games, which took place between Furman and Mercer--a game that lived up to the hype and came down to the wire with Furman holding on for a 74-72 win--and also Wofford going on the road and getting a huge league win by five points over Western Carolina, as the Terriers held off the Catamounts, 79-74, in Cullowhee.

The only blowout so far is kind of a result we unfortunately already pretty much expected, with East Tennessee State posting a 74-49 win at The Citadel. 

Two more games are on tap for New Year's Day, as defending SoCon champion Chattanooga is on the road for a 4 p.m. EST tilt at UNC Greensboro, while Samford will be in Lexington, VA., to take on VMI in a 1 p.m. EST contest.

Below is a look back to the first three SoCon games of the season and the last three games of the 2025 calendar year. 

ETSU 74, The Citadel 49 

McAlister Field House/Charleston, S.C.

Dec. 30, 2025

East Tennessee State looked the part of being one of the favorites in the 2025-26 Southern Conference race, opening league play in style while also putting an end to a three-game losing streak, posting a resounding 74-49 win on the road at The Citadel Tuesday night at McAlister Field House.

With the win, the Bucs improved to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in league action, while the Bulldogs fell to 3-11 overall and 0-1 in league play. It was the 35th-straight loss to NCAA Division I competition and the it marked the 23rd-straight loss to SoCon opposition if you include regular-season and tournament losses. The last time the Bulldogs tasted victory against a SoCon foe came back on Feb. 24, 2024, as The Citadel posted what was a 71-62 win over Chattanooga at McAlister Field House. 

Blake Barkley led the way for the Bucs in the win, as he posted 17 points and was one of four Bucs players in double figures in the road win. Barkley finished 6-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-1 from long-range and was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Barkley added four boards and a couple of steals in the Bucs road win.

The Northwestern transfer was joined in double figures by Brian Taylor II and Jordan McCullum, who added 13 points apiece, while Jaylen Smith added 10 points off the bench for ETSU. The only Bulldogs player to find his way into double figures was Christian Moore, who added 10. 

ETSU's stellar defense held the Bulldogs to just 32.7% (17-of-52) for the game, including a 21.4% (7-of-32) effort from three-point range. The 49 points that the Bucs held the Bulldogs to in the game were a season-low for an ETSU opponent. 

The Bucs, meanwhile, finished the game connecting on 51% (26-of-51) from the field and 40% (6-of-15) from three-point range, while knocking down an impressive 16-of-19 charity shots (84%) on the road. 

Both teams got off to a slow start, with The Citadel holding an early 12-9 lead following a layup by Bulldogs guard Christian Moore in the paint with 11:49 remaining in the opening half. While ETSU wasn't scoring from the field, it was doing enough from the line to keep pace, as the Bucs went 7-of-8 from the line, and with just under 10 minutes remaining in the opening half, Cam Morris III's two free throws after being fouled on a fastbreak put ETSU ahead, 16-14, and it would be a lead the Bucs would not relinquish the rest of the evening.

While ETSU maintained strong defense throughout, it would be a three from Allen Strothers that would end the Bucs' scoring drought, which lasted four-and-a-half minutes, and then a Barkley triple with 6:26 left in the half would extend ETSU's lead out to double digits, at 11 points, as it would push the     Bucs lead to 26-15. Two layups and a dunk from Barkley put an emphatic cap on a strong opening 20 minutes for ETSU, as the Bucs headed to the half with a 38-20 lead.

Much like the opening half, neither team could find any rhythm at the start of the second half, and the Bucs were able to maintain their large road lead through the opening five minutes of the second stanza. An 11-0 run by ETSU, which was capped by a Gabe Sisk tip-in off his own missed layup attempt allowed the Bucs to push the lead to 28 with 3:44 remaining. 

The Bucs later pushed the lead to as much as 30 following an Isaiah Sutherland layup in the paint with 49 seconds remaining and the road team would end up settling for a 25-point road win, as The Citadel closed the night with a Kenyan Davis three-pointer and a Chase Williams jumper, which set the final scoreline of 74-49.

ETSU's win was just an appetizer for what should be a main course game on Saturday afternoon, as the Bucs welcome a very good Mercer (8-6, 0-1 SoCon) team into Freedom Hall for a 4 p.m. EST tip-off.

The Citadel returns to SoCon action on Saturday when it hosts Wofford (9-5, 1-0 SoCon) in a 1 p.m. EST contest at McAlister Field House. 

Wofford 79, Western Carolina 74

The Ramsey Center/Cullowhee, N.C.

Dec. 31, 2025

Defending SoCon Tournament champion and NCAA Tournament Wofford got its SoCon campaign off to a positive start on the final day of the 2025 calendar year, which is one that has been filled with both triumph and turmoil, getting a tough, 79-74, win over Western Carolina Wednesday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

With the win, the Terriers continued their strong start to the new season under rookie head coach Kevin Giltner, as Wofford improved to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon. Western Carolina fell to 4-8 overall and 0-1 to start league play.

Nils Machowski led Wofford with 27 points, while Cayden Vasko added 18 and Kahmare Holmes added a team-leading eight rebounds in the important road win to open league play for the Terriers. 

Machowski finished his night by connecting on going 9-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-9 from three-point land and was also 5-for-8 from the line. The transfer from UCF also added seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

The Catamounts were led by Cord Stansberry, who finished with 20 points, while Tidjiane Dioumassi added 13. 

Much like the ETSU-The Citadel game, the Terriers and Catamounts were slow getting the game started on the offensive end of the floor in the opening moments of the game, scoring just 11 combined points in the opening four minutes of the contest. 

The two teams would eventually get it going offensively, and it would be the Catamounts that would seize control early, as Cord Stansberry connected on a three to give WCU an early 14-8 lead before freshman guard Jayden Tyler continued off his strong SoCon Player of the Week performance of a week ago, connecting on a three of his own to get Wofford to back within three.

Later in the opening 20 minutes, the Terriers assumed the lead on back-to-back threes from Machowski and Holmes, as the second one by Machowski gave the Terriers a 21-20 lead with 10:10 left in the opening half. 

Cayden Vasko's three with 5:44 remaining in the opening half would give the Terriers their largest lead of the opening half, at 31-23, however, seven-straight points by Stansberry, capped by a layup with 4:27 left in the opening half, quickly got the Catamounts back to within a point.

Machowski answered with a jumper for Wofford, and after Samuel Dada went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe, Machowski canned a three to make it a 36-31 lead for Wofford with 2:22 remaining in the half. The Terriers would get one more three in the half from Vasko, settling for a six-point, 39-33, at the break.

Wofford came out and creating some breathing room early in the second half, and it was freshman forward Brian Sumpter that got Wofford off to a strong start with the first five points of the half for Wofford, which included his second-career three-pointer, as the Terriers maintained their lead in the early portions of the second half, at 44-38.

The Terriers had extended their lead out to double digits for the first time in the game leading into the first media timeout, as Vasko and Machowski scored on a layup and a tip-in to give Wofford a 53-42 lead at the 15:10 mark of the second half. 

Over the next five minutes, however, the Catamounts would begin to chip away, using a 14-4 run, which was capped by a pair of CJ Hyland foul shots to get the Catamounts to within one, at 57-56, with 10:13 remaining. 

Despite the Catamounts cutting the Terriers lead to a single point, Wofford was able to maintain its lead and weather the storm by WCU. A Luke Flynn triple at the 5:55 mark saw the Terriers threaten to push the lead back to double digits, as Wofford assumed a 70-62 lead.  Five-straight from the hometown Catamounts, however, prevented Wofford the luxury of any such comfort, as a Stansberry layup, a Marcus Kell free throw and a Dada layup got the Catamounts to within three, at 70-67, with 4:17 left. 

Two free throws and a three-point play the old-fashioned way would put the Terriers' lead back to six, at 75-69, with 2:46 remaining, however, layups by Dada and Tidjiane Dioumassi put the Catamounts back to within a bucket, at 75-73, with 49 seconds remaining. 

Following a Terrier timeout, Vasko would convert the biggest shot of the night on a turnaround jumper, with 29 seconds remaining, giving Wofford a two-possession lead, at 77-73. After Dioumassi went 1-of-2 from the line to get the Catamounts back to within three with 18 seconds left, Machowski was immediately fouled, and he knocked down both of his free throws to put the Terriers up five, at 79-74, and that would ultimately end up being the final score.

Wofford finished the game connecting on 46.4% (26-of-56) from the field, while connecting on a solid 37.9% (11-of-29) from three-point land and 69.6% (16-of-23) from the free throw line. Western Carolina finished out the day connecting on 37.5% (24-of-64) from the field, including a 25.0% (6-of-24) effort from three-point range. The Catamounts connected on 29.0% (20-of-29) from the free throw line. 

Wofford returns to action Saturday, Jan. 3, with a trip to face The Citadel at McAlister Field House in a 1 p.m. EST contest. Western Carolina heads to Greenville to face Furman (10-4, 1-0 SoCon) in a 4 p.m. EST tip-off at Timmons Arena on Jan. 3

Furman 74, Mercer 72

Timmons Arena/Greenville, S.C.

Dec. 31, 2025

In a duel between two of the top point guards in mid-major basketball, it was Mercer's Baraka Okojie that led all scorers with 22 points and got the better of the individual showdown statistically, but it was Furman's freshman phenom Alex Wilkins that made the most important shot of the afternoon, as his driving runner off the glass with 19 seconds remaining that brought a loud roar from the 2,117 fans at Timmons Arena,  which proved the difference in the Paladins' 74-72 league-opening win over the Bears.

The game featured eight lead changes and six ties, with neither team holding more than a nine-point advantage at any point in the contest.

With its sixth-straight win and ninth in the last 10 outings, Furman to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in league action, while Mercer fell to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Wilkins wasn't far behind Okojie for top scoring honors in the SoCon epic, as he finished with 20 points and seven assists to lead four in double figures for the Paladins. He connected on 7-of-15 shots from the field, including going 3-for-4 from three-point range and was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. 

Okojie finished with his 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting for the game, including connecting on 2-of-5 shots from long-range in the loss. Okojie also made all six of his free throws in the game and add three assists and a pair of rebounds.

Wilkins would be joined in double figures by Asa Thomas, who finished with 19 points and five boards, while Tom House added 13 and Ben Vander Wal finished with 11. In true glue guy-like fashion, Vander Wal also added seven rebounds and dished out a pair assists.

As good as Wilkins was though, it's arguable that Charles Johnston was Furman's most valuable performer in the game. 

The 6-11 senior just missed his eighth double-double of the season, with nine points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals and only one turnover. With Furman thin depth-wise underneath, Johnston also did a great job of defending and being physical without getting into foul trouble. 

It was the physical edge that Johnston provided in Saturday's game against a very physical Mercer team that proved especially vital in helping the Paladins secure their first SoCon win of the 2025-26 season. 

Johnston's rebounding and his ability to defend a big man like Armani Mighty, keeping him from powering his way down in the paint with his strength was a big key to Furman's win.  

The big Aussie's play proved especially vital with Furman being without its other part of that twin-towers duo in the paint--Cooper Bowser--who missed his second-straight game with a lower-body injury. Johnston logged a total of 32 minutes and finished with a team-best +9 in the +/- category. 

His defensive performance held Mighty, who entered the game ranking third in the nation with a field goal percentage of 70% this season coming into the matchup, to just 4-of-11 shooting from the field, which computes to 36.3%. 

It was Mighty's lowest field goal percentage shooting performance in any game for the Bears this season, and his eight points in the game were five under his average of 13.2 PPG entering the contest. Mighty did show why he was one of the best defensive players in the league, swatting away five shots, as well as ripping down a game-high 13 rebounds.

It was also Vander Wal's ability to do everything from playing power forward to playing point guard in the game, helped Furman adapt to what it didn't have by maximizing the versatility of what it does have. It's the type of resiliency and ability that you have to have to win championships, and though it's only one game, if that continues to hold true for Furman, it likely foreshadows good things to come in January and February, as league teams jockey for positioning for the early March finale at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. 

While Okojie was outstanding for the Bears, he got some solid help from Zaire Williams, who finished with 13 points to finish out the double-figure scorers in the game for Mercer.  

Brady Shoulders just missed double figures with nine, while also adding nine rebounds and added five steals. Connor Serven added eight points, three boards and blocked three shots, while Kyle Cuffe Jr. finished with seven off the bench for the Bears.

The Paladins ended the game connecting on 44.1% (26-of-59) from the field and finished 39.1% (9-for-23) from three-point range, and connected on 59.1% (13-of-22) from the charity stripe. 

Mercer finished the night connecting on 41.4% (29-of-70) from the field and 35.0% (7-of-20) from long-range. The Bears also finished 77.9% (7-of-9) from the charity stripe. 

The Bears held advantages in points in the paint (38-28), points from turnovers (15-9), second-chance points (17-8) and bench scoring (16-2). The Paladins finished holding advantages in total rebounds (41-37), total assists (16-9) and fast-break points (17-10).

Furman and Mercer battled through a tough opening twelve-and-a-half minutes of play, and after eight-straight points from Alex Wilkins, the Paladins built a 23-14 lead midway through the opening half, the Bears responded with a 7-2 run to cut the Paladin lead to four, at 25-21, following an Armani Mighty rebound and putback in the paint. 

Two minutes later, Mercer regained the lead on a pair of Baraka Okojie foul shots, at 29-27, with 5:37 remaining in the opening half. It marked the first time the Bears had held the lead in the game since it was 9-8 following a Brady Shoulders layup in the paint at the 15:49 mark in the opening half. 

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Mercer took its largest lead of the afternoon when Shoulders got inside position to gain an offensive rebound and proceeded to follow through with the putback, giving the Bears a 35-32 lead with 2:06 left in the half. 

Furman, however, would play good defense over the final two minutes of the half, and would score the final four points of the half, as Wilkins converted a layup in transition before Tom House got fouled on a three with 40 seconds remaining in the half, connecting on 2-of-3 from the line to give the Paladins a 36-35 lead, and the Paladins would play good defense, forcing a Connor Serven missed three on a contested shot from the top of the key. The Paladins went to half with a lead by the narrowest of margins. 

The game would teeter back-and-forth as the high echelon play would escalate in execution with the progression of the half. The Paladins assumed the initial momentum, building nine-point, 47-38, lead following a Wilkins triple in transition less than three minutes into the second half. It would be the last time the Paladin lead would reach that margin, although on five other occasions throughout the course of the second half it would widen to seven, however, the Bears' road resilience and tenacity never let the Paladins get any sort of comfortability, despite being in front a larger than expected, loud crowd  for a New Years Eve noon tip time.

A Tom House off-balance jumper from about the free throw line at the 7:46 mark saw the Paladins threaten to build enough of a cushion to put the game out of reach, as the senior guard's shot put the Paladins ahead, 59-52.

This is the point in the game where things would change, and the offensive efficiency for the Bears would be at its peak level. After Asa Thomas missed a three and a missed shot off an offensive rebound, the ball went out of play after a scramble of bodies battling to possess the ball before it drifted out of play and the ball was initially awarded to Furman, It was at this crucial point that the Bears felt it crucial enough to utilize their challenge, and it would prove to be a good decision, as the call was overturned and given to the Bears with 6:52 remaining. 

With the ball back in their possession, Baraka Okojie banged a top of the key three and the Bears gained a little momentum. After a pair of Furman turnovers, the Bears got to within two when Mighty got the offensive rebound on a Zaire Williams missed three and put it back in to cut Furman's lead to 59-57 with 5:32 left.

Furman's next possession would see House fouled on a three just in front of the Furman bench and just like towards the end of the opening half, House would knock down two of three to put Furman back up by four, at 61-57, with 4:38 remaining. The Paladins would build the lead to five on three different occasions over the next two-and-a-half minutes, with the final coming after Asa Thomas was fouled on a three with 1:37 remaining on a beautifully designed play, that as Bob Richey said in his postgame press conference, was taken from Dan Hurley during UConn's Championship runs, and the Clemson transfer knocked down 2-of-3 from the line to make it a 71-66 lead for the Paladins. 

The Bears took a timeout and then another Okojie three, which rolled around the rim several times before going in, got Mercer to within a bucket, at 71-69, with 1:29 left. Wilkins then had a layup blocked by Mighty, but Thomas came up with a key steal before being fouled to put him at the line for a pair of free throws in the double bonus. He would make one out of two to put the Paladins ahead 72-69. 

Following Thomas' miss on the second free throw, the Bears advanced it quickly across the timeline and Okojie lobbed a beautiful jump pass to the opposite corner to a wide open Brady Shoulders, who connected on a left elbow three, tying the game, 72-72, with 40.9 seconds left. 

Furman took timeout to set up what would prove to be the game winning play, and after Mighty chased Johnston out to the three-point line in the corner, it cleared enough space for Wilkins with a Bears defender on his hip to connect on the running jumper off the glass with 19 seconds remaining, giving the Paladins the 74-72 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Mercer tried several options off an offensive set to get an open look at a three, and when that didn't happen, Ryan Ridder burned a timeout with 5.4 seconds left to set up a better look at a two, which the Bears got. However, Okojie's tear-drop jumper from about 12 feet out caromed off the front and then back of the rim and Mighty grabbed the rebound, but Johnston swatted away his attempted shot after the buzzer and Furman held on for a gutsy, 74-72 win.

Furman returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, facing off against Western Carolina (4-8, 0-1 SoCon). Tip-off for that contest is set for 4 p.m. EST at Timmons Arena. Mercer will be in Johnson City to face another of the SoCon's top teams, in East Tennessee State (9-5, 1-0 SoCon). Tip-off for that contest is set for 4 p.m. EST at Freedom Hall.

Notes: 

--Furman finished 2025 calendar year with a 23-13 record

--Freshman guard Alex Wilkins posted his 12th of 14 games in double figures this season, including his sixth 20+-point performance

--Mercer guard Baraka Okojie finished off his 14th double-figure scoring performance of the season, including his fourth 20+scoring performance

--Furman improved to 7-1 at Timmons Arena this season and is now 116-20 at Timmons Arena over the past 10 years, including 64-10 against SoCon foes. The Paladins are 33-5 against SoCon foes at Timmons Arena over the last five-plus seasons. The Paladins are now 264-109 are Timmons Arena all-time and 144-81 against league foes. 

Furman Outlasts Mercer in a Classic to Open SoCon Play

Furman's Tom House converts a contested layup vs. Mercer in a physical SoCon Opener

GREENVILLE, S.C.--You never know what to expect on the first day of a new conference season, and with roster turnover being what it is now in college basketball, that has become as unpredictable as it ever has been.

However, on the final day of 2025, both Furman and Mercer looked in postseason form, as the two battled back in forth in a game that had a March feel to it in a one-bid league. What we learned from Saturday's game is less about Furman and more about Mercer. 

We knew Furman was going to be and is good, but what we discovered is that the Bears are for real. It's pretty easy to see that this Mercer team under second-year head coach Ryan Ridder is going to finish well above its projected spot of eighth by the league's head coaches. 

In a duel between two of the top point guards in mid-major basketball, it was Mercer's Baraka Okojie that led all scorers with 22 points and got the better of the individual showdown statistically, but it was Furman's freshman phenom Alex Wilkins that made the most important shot of the afternoon, as his driving runner off the glass with 19 seconds remaining that brought a loud roar from the 2,117 fans at Timmons Arena,  which proved the difference in the Paladins' 74-72 league-opening win over the Bears.

The game featured eight lead changes and six ties, with neither team holding more than a nine-point advantage at any point in the contest.

With its sixth-straight win and ninth in the last 10 outings, Furman to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in league action, while Mercer fell to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.

Wilkins wasn't far behind Okojie for top scoring honors in the SoCon epic, as he finished with 20 points and seven assists to lead four in double figures for the Paladins. He connected on 7-of-15 shots from the field, including going 3-for-4 from three-point range and was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. 

Okojie finished with his 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting for the game, including connecting on 2-of-5 shots from long-range in the loss. Okojie also made all six of his free throws in the game and add three assists and a pair of rebounds.

Wilkins would be joined in double figures by Asa Thomas, who finished with 19 points and five boards, while Tom House added 13 and Ben Vander Wal finished with 11. In true glue guy-like fashion, Vander Wal also added seven rebounds and dished out a pair assists.

As good as Wilkins was though, it's arguable that Charles Johnston was Furman's most valuable performer in the game. 

The 6-11 senior just missed his eighth double-double of the season, with nine points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals and only one turnover. With Furman thin depth-wise underneath, Johnston also did a great job of defending and being physical without getting into foul trouble. 

It was the physical edge that Johnston provided in Saturday's game against a very physical Mercer team that proved especially vital in helping the Paladins secure their first SoCon win of the 2025-26 season. 

Johnston's rebounding and his ability to defend a big man like Armani Mighty, keeping him from powering his way down in the paint with his strength was a big key to Furman's win.  

The big Aussie's play proved especially vital with Furman being without its other part of that twin-towers duo in the paint--Cooper Bowser--who missed his second-straight game with a lower-body injury. Johnston logged a total of 32 minutes and finished with a team-best +9 in the +/- category. 

His defensive performance held Mighty, who entered the game ranking third in the nation with a field goal percentage of 70% this season coming into the matchup, to just 4-of-11 shooting from the field, which computes to 36.3%. 

It was Mighty's lowest field goal percentage shooting performance in any game for the Bears this season, and his eight points in the game were five under his average of 13.2 PPG entering the contest. Mighty did show why he was one of the best defensive players in the league, swatting away five shots, as well as ripping down a game-high 13 rebounds.

It was also Vander Wal's ability to do everything from playing power forward to playing point guard in the game, helped Furman adapt to what it didn't have by maximizing the versatility of what it does have. It's the type of resiliency and ability that you have to have to win championships, and though it's only one game, if that continues to hold true for Furman, it likely foreshadows good things to come in January and February, as league teams jockey for positioning for the early March finale at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. 

While Okojie was outstanding for the Bears, he got some solid help from Zaire Williams, who finished with 13 points to finish out the double-figure scorers in the game for Mercer.  

Brady Shoulders just missed double figures with nine, while also adding nine rebounds and added five steals. Connor Serven added eight points, three boards and blocked three shots, while Kyle Cuffe Jr. finished with seven off the bench for the Bears.

The Paladins ended the game connecting on 44.1% (26-of-59) from the field and finished 39.1% (9-for-23) from three-point range, and connected on 59.1% (13-of-22) from the charity stripe. 

Mercer finished the night connecting on 41.4% (29-of-70) from the field and 35.0% (7-of-20) from long-range. The Bears also finished 77.9% (7-of-9) from the charity stripe. 

The Bears held advantages in points in the paint (38-28), points from turnovers (15-9), second-chance points (17-8) and bench scoring (16-2). The Paladins finished holding advantages in total rebounds (41-37), total assists (16-9) and fast-break points (17-10).

How It Happened:

Furman and Mercer battled through a tough opening twelve-and-a-half minutes of play, and after eight-straight points from Alex Wilkins, the Paladins built a 23-14 lead midway through the opening half, the Bears responded with a 7-2 run to cut the Paladin lead to four, at 25-21, following an Armani Mighty rebound and putback in the paint. 

Two minutes later, Mercer regained the lead on a pair of Baraka Okojie foul shots, at 29-27, with 5:37 remaining in the opening half. It marked the first time the Bears had held the lead in the game since it was 9-8 following a Brady Shoulders layup in the paint at the 15:49 mark in the opening half. 

With just over two minutes remaining in the half, Mercer took its largest lead of the afternoon when Shoulders got inside position to gain an offensive rebound and proceeded to follow through with the putback, giving the Bears a 35-32 lead with 2:06 left in the half. 

Furman, however, would play good defense over the final two minutes of the half, and would score the final four points of the half, as Wilkins converted a layup in transition before Tom House got fouled on a three with 40 seconds remaining in the half, connecting on 2-of-3 from the line to give the Paladins a 36-35 lead, and the Paladins would play good defense, forcing a Connor Serven missed three on a contested shot from the top of the key. The Paladins went to half with a lead by the narrowest of margins. 

The game would teeter back-and-forth as the high echelon play would escalate in execution with the progression of the half. The Paladins assumed the initial momentum, building nine-point, 47-38, lead following a Wilkins triple in transition less than three minutes into the second half. It would be the last time the Paladin lead would reach that margin, although on five other occasions throughout the course of the second half it would widen to seven, however, the Bears' road resilience and tenacity never let the Paladins get any sort of comfortability, despite being in front a larger than expected, loud crowd  for a New Years Eve noon tip time.

A Tom House off-balance jumper from about the free throw line at the 7:46 mark saw the Paladins threaten to build enough of a cushion to put the game out of reach, as the senior guard's shot put the Paladins ahead, 59-52.

This is the point in the game where things would change, and the offensive efficiency for the Bears would be at its peak level. After Asa Thomas missed a three and a missed shot off an offensive rebound, the ball went out of play after a scramble of bodies battling to possess the ball before it drifted out of play and the ball was initially awarded to Furman, It was at this crucial point that the Bears felt it crucial enough to utilize their challenge, and it would prove to be a good decision, as the call was overturned and given to the Bears with 6:52 remaining. 

With the ball back in their possession, Baraka Okojie banged a top of the key three and the Bears gained a little momentum. After a pair of Furman turnovers, the Bears got to within two when Mighty got the offensive rebound on a Zaire Williams missed three and put it back in to cut Furman's lead to 59-57 with 5:32 left.

Furman's next possession would see House fouled on a three just in front of the Furman bench and just like towards the end of the opening half, House would knock down two of three to put Furman back up by four, at 61-57, with 4:38 remaining. The Paladins would build the lead to five on three different occasions over the next two-and-a-half minutes, with the final coming after Asa Thomas was fouled on a three with 1:37 remaining on a beautifully designed play, that as Bob Richey said in his postgame press conference, was taken from Dan Hurley during UConn's Championship runs, and the Clemson transfer knocked down 2-of-3 from the line to make it a 71-66 lead for the Paladins. 

The Bears took a timeout and then another Okojie three, which rolled around the rim several times before going in, got Mercer to within a bucket, at 71-69, with 1:29 left. Wilkins then had a layup blocked by Mighty, but Thomas came up with a key steal before being fouled to put him at the line for a pair of free throws in the double bonus. He would make one out of two to put the Paladins ahead 72-69. 

Following Thomas' miss on the second free throw, the Bears advanced it quickly across the timeline and Okojie lobbed a beautiful jump pass to the opposite corner to a wide open Brady Shoulders, who connected on a left elbow three, tying the game, 72-72, with 40.9 seconds left. 

Furman took timeout to set up what would prove to be the game winning play, and after Mighty chased Johnston out to the three-point line in the corner, it cleared enough space for Wilkins with a Bears defender on his hip to connect on the running jumper off the glass with 19 seconds remaining, giving the Paladins the 74-72 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Mercer tried several options off an offensive set to get an open look at a three, and when that didn't happen, Ryan Ridder burned a timeout with 5.4 seconds left to set up a better look at a two, which the Bears got. However, Okojie's tear-drop jumper from about 12 feet out caromed off the front and then back of the rim and Mighty grabbed the rebound, but Johnston swatted away his attempted shot after the buzzer and Furman held on for a gutsy, 74-72 win.

Furman returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 3, facing off against Western Carolina (4-8, 0-1 SoCon). Tip-off for that contest is set for 4 p.m. EST at Timmons Arena. Mercer will be in Johnson City to face another of the SoCon's top teams, in East Tennessee State (9-5, 1-0 SoCon). Tip-off for that contest is set for 2 p.m. EST at Freedom Hall.

Postgame: 

Head coach--Bob Richey

Players--Charles Johnston, Tom House and Alex Wilkins

SoCon Test No. 1: Furman Hosts Title-Ready Mercer

Furman's first Southern Conference test of the 2025-26 season won't be an easy one, as Mercer (8-5) comes to Timmons Arena looking to spoil the Paladins current run of form, which saw the Paladins close non-conference play by winning five-straight games.

The last time the Paladins faced off against the Bears at Timmons Arena, things didn't go so well, as Furman dropped what was an 82-75 contest in what was the final game in the old, non-refurbished Timmons Arena.

So far in 2025, Furman has posted a 22-13 record, which dates back to its 90-61 road win at Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center on Jan. 1, 2025. The Bears are 15-18 in the calendar year of 2025, which dates back to Jan. 1, 2025, when the Bears captured that memorable 99-94 overtime win over Chattanooga at Hawkins Arena. Little did anyone know at that time that the win would be one of the best in the league all season and marked one of just three league losses the Mocs would suffer during league play in 2024-25. 

The Paladins are 6-1 on their home floor this season and 115-20 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, which includes a 52-10 mark against non-conference foes and an impressive 63-10 record against SoCon foes. 

Mercer is the last of those SoCon foes to garner a win inside Timmons Arena when it did so back in March of 2024. The Paladins are 32-5 against SoCon foes over the past five-plus seasons against league foes.  Furman's lone loss in the refurbished Timmons Arena came back in the Paladins' official season opener against KenPom No. 141 Troy, which handed the Paladins a 64-61 setback on its home floor. 

The Paladins and Bears have been two of the top three teams in the SoCon, along with East Tennessee State, who is also tied with Mercer having posted an identical non-conference record of 8-5. 

The Paladins were able to claim both games against the Bears last season, taking down Mercer 79-74 in Macon before coming home and delivering a 96-72 beatdown at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, thanks to a 6-for-6 performance by Tom House from three-point range, as he finished with a career-best 26 points in what was a 24-point home win. 

As far as the all-time series is concerned, Furman holds a 29-12 all-time series edge, which includes a 20-5 series edge against the Bears during their time as a league member, including snapping Furman's 18-game winning streak in the series by getting a 79-68 win over the Paladins at Hawkins Arena back on Feb. 7, 2024.

That 2024-25 season sweep by the Paladins help avenge a season sweep by the Bears a year earlier, which marked the second time the Bears have posted a regular-season sweep of the Paladins since joining the SoCon as an official league member prior to the 2014-15 season. 

That first sweep of the 'Dins came off Mercer's magical run through the Atlantic Sun and opening round upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The second one would come two years ago in what was by any standard, a very un-Furman-like season under Bob Richey. 

It is interesting to note that least one piece of that championship squad back in 2013-14, which finished off the campaign with a 27-9 mark, ASUN Title, and posted that memorable 78-71 opening round upset of the Blue Devils in Raleigh returned to the team during the off-season, but only now as an assistant coach. 

Langston Hall was part of that foundation of sustained success originally established under Bob Hoffman. The 6-4 guard starred for the Bears from 2010-14, starting 134 of 138 games during his time with the Orange and Black as a player. 

Hall was a three-time All Atlantic Sun selection and finished out his career as the school's all-time leader in assists (633) and three-pointers made (256), while ranking second in steals (177) and eighth in points scored (1,579). As a result of his outstanding playing career for the Bears, Hall had his No. 21 jersey retired and it now hangs from the rafters atop Hawkins Arena.

Previewing Mercer:

Though Mercer would flirt with a conference championship in its first couple of seasons as a league member in the SoCon, the Bears decline was never able to be completely reversed, leading to two coaching changes as a result, with the aforementioned Hoffman and his successor Greg Gary not able to do enough in the years that would follow in the Bears' SoCon membership to maintain their job as head coach. 

But things started to turnaround last year under the direction of young, energetic Ryan Ridder, who has navigated the portal with precision in his first two seasons as the head coach. And while the Bears didn't completely turn it all around in Ridder's first year at the helm, they did enough to be a problem for most anyone they faced on a given night.

The reason why Mercer was a problem last season is they had a pair of elite scorers, in Ahmad Robinson and Tyler "Chip" Johnson that could put stress on any team defensively, and that the Bears to be in most games in league play.

Last season, for instance, the Bears knocked off eventual league regular-season champion Chattanooga, handing the Mocs a 99-94 overtime loss, which is one of just three the Mocs would suffer throughout the entire league campaign in 2024-25. The Bears also had a really good glue guy, in Brady Shoulders, and like Furman's own Ben Vander Wal, was a guy that did all the little things that enabled teams to be successful. 

While Robinson and Johnson have both moved on, Shoulders has remained as one of the team's primary leaders. Once again Ridder has gone out and brought in an even better portal haul this time around. This Mercer team has a lot more than two scorers and based on what we saw in the non-conference, the Bears might just have the best starting five in the league.

The Bears finished the non-conference slate with an 8-5 slate and a KenPom of 160, which is third in the league behind both Furman (154) and ETSU (136), however, the NET rankings have Mercer ranked as the highest ranked team in the SoCon, ranking the Bears at 135, while ETSU ranks 149 and Furman ranks 159.

As a team, the Bears enter Wednesday afternoon's matinee' clash with the Paladins averaging 83.7 PPG, which tops overall in the SoCon, which is just ahead of Furman, which averages 78.6 PPG. 

The Bears, who come to Greenville with an 8-5 overall record, have that scoring average per game influenced a lot by having won their last warm-up game against non-Division I competition, 122-49, on Sunday afternoon against Baptist. 

As you might expect, then, the Bears have shot the ball pretty well from both two-point and three-point range so far this season, connecting at a 45.1% overall as a team, while shooting the ball at a 32.4% from long-range this season, ranking fourth and fifth in those respective categories in the SoCon. In terms of free throw shooting, the Bears are connecting at a 69.7% clip to rank fifth in the SoCon this season, while ranking fourth in the league in free throws made (189) and also fourth in free throws attempted (271) this season. 

Defensively, the Bears are allowing 73.7 PPG, which ranks the Bears fifth overall in the SoCon this season, while opponents are shooting 41.4% from the field and 29.9% from three-point range, ranking second and first in the league, respectively, in those two categories. 

The Bears have connected on 121 three-pointers through the first 13 games this season, including having made 15 in their most-recent lopsided win over Baptist, ranking fifth overall in the SoCon in that category.

As far as common opponents are concerned in non-conference play, both Furman and Mercer claimed road wins at a good Elon team, with the Bears taking a 91-84 win over the Phoenix before Furman followed that up with a 97-88 win at the Schar Center a few nights later.

Mercer delivered some impressive showings against power conference foes, putting forth a respectable performance at No. 17 Tennessee before eventually falling 76-61 to the Vols, while leading for a good portion of the game before dropping a 70-63 game just up the road at Clemson. 

The Bears also played well in an 84-78 loss at Washington State. Mercer's worst loss at the hands of a power conference foe came against Central Florida, which saw the Knights post an 18-point, 81-63 win over the Bears just a couple of weeks back.

Other than the win over Elon, one could point to the 92-77 home win over KenPom No.136 Lipscomb as another of the top wins for the Bears. Mercer also owns wins over KenPom No. 331 Georgia State (W, 78-67), KenPom No. 272 Eastern Kentucky (W, 91-84), KenPom No. 248 Appalachian State (W, 75-67), while having knocked off non-Division I foes LaGrange (W, 101-62), Ogelthorpe (W, 100-50) and Baptist (W, 122-49).

Unless you count Washington State as a non-power conference foe, the Bears have just one loss to a mid-major program this season, and that came in a rather lopsided fashion, as the Bears were a 105-69 loser at KenPom No. 126 Winthrop back on Nov. 15, 2025. 

For the Bears, it all starts with their backcourt and in particular, Baraka Okojie (17.6 PPG, 5.6 APG), who has established himself as an elite point guard in the Southern Conference so far this season, and along with Furman's own Alex Wilkins, has likely been the top point guard in the Southern Conference this season. 

If there were a Player of the Year award given out by the SoCon's league office, it would likely go to Okojie for his play through the first part of the season in non-conference play, as he's been the top player in the league. Okojie's 17.6 PPG ranks him third overall in the SoCon in scoring, while his 5.6 APG continues to lead the league. 

Okojie, who played at both George Mason and Memphis prior to his arrival in Macon, has started all 12 games for the Bears and scored in double figures in all 12 outings he's appeared in this season for Mercer. Okojie has scored 20 or more points in a game on three occasions so far in 2025-26. 

He scored a season-high 29 points in the impressive road triumph at Elon last season, as he connected on 5-of-11 shots from the field and was 1-of-2 from three-point range in that Mercer win, while also dishing out 10 assists, completing his second double-double performance of the season for the Bears. His only other double-double performance came that 15-point home win over Lipscomb, as he posted 16 points to go along with a season-high 12 assists.

It could be argued that his 20 points and six assists in a regionally televised game at Clemson might be his top performance of the season, as his effort kept the Bears in the game and gave them a chance to pull the big-time road upset. In fact, Okojie's 17 first-half points against the Tigers actually staked the Bear to a 39-33 halftime lead over Clemson.

In that game, Okojie logged a season-high 37 minutes against the Tigers, finishing his afternoon connecting on 8-of-17 from the field, as well as connecting on 1-of-4 from long-range in the loss. The 17 shot attempts also represented the second-most in a game for the 6-3 junior point guard this season. 

The only game which saw Okojie attempt more shots from the field was in the recent six-point road loss at Washington State, which saw him attempt 20 shots from the field, as he completed the game going 10-of-20 from the field to finish with 24 points. 

Overall, Okojie is connecting at a 40.9% clip (65-of-159) from the field this season, while shooting at just a 28.6% (12-of-42) from three-point land this season. Additionally, Okojie has 67 total assists to go with 39 turnovers in the 12 games he's played in this season. 

Set to join him as a part of that talented backcourt for the Bears on Wednesday will be both Zaire Williams (12.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG) and Quinton Perkins II (10.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG), helping form a maybe the best trio of starting guards in the SoCon.

While Okojie is the straw that stirs the drink for Mercer, it could be argued that both Williams and Perkins II are just important when it comes to the success the Bears have already had in the non-conference, as well as the success moving forward in league play this season. 

Williams came into the Mercer program from Wagner, where he starred for the Seahawks for three seasons and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2024. He's one of the top perimeter threats in the SoCon, and he's been a big part of the offensive production for the Bears this season, entering Wednesday afternoon's league opener averaging 12.2 PPG. 

Williams is an assassin when it comes to being a shooter from long-range, although he's seen his percentage has taken a bit of a hit as of late. Williams has connected on 32.4% (26-of-81) from three-point range this season and is coming off a 19-point effort the last time out against Baptist. It was his second-best scoring performance of the season, which was bested only by his 21-point effort, which came in the 75-67 win over Appalachian State back in late November. 

During his final season at Wagner, he garnered Third-Team All-NEC honors, while ending up as a member of that league's All-Defensive Team. As Mercer head coach Ridder said during media day in his Field of 68 interview, Williams gives the Bears a "toughness" that they lacked in some ways last season.

Perkins came to Mercer from one of the top JUCO programs in the country, arriving in Macon from Indian Hills CC, which also produced former Chattanooga great and 1997 NBA Lottery Pick Johnny Taylor, who starred in the SoCon from 1995-97. Perkins is a 6-1 guard and gives the Bears an extra ball-handler on the floor. 

He has started 11 of the 13 Mercer games this season, missing starts in the opener against Tennessee and also did not start the game against Washington State. Like Williams, Perkins II is known as a three-point specialist, leading the team in both three-point field goals made (27), as well as ranking second three-point field goal percentage (37.0%/27-of-73).  

Perkins' best performance of the season came with a 20-point effort in a win at Eastern Kentucky earlier this season, while he's scored in double figures seven times in the first 13 games of the season, as he posted 10 points the last time out against Baptist. At 83.3% (15-of-18) from the free throw line this season, Perkins II also ranks as one of the team's top performers at the charity stripe. 

Rounding out the projected starting five heading into Wednesday's league opener will be both Brady Shoulders (8.3 PPG, 7.4 RPG) and 6-10 center Armani Mighty (13.2 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 24 blks). Mighty has been arguably the best big man in the SoCon this season, while Shoulders has been a player that has been that "glue guy" that has seemingly done all the little things that show up in wins, but not always on the stats sheet.

Shoulders is another guy that gives the Bears a toughness and an edge, and he's been a player that has played through pain and some injuries at times last year in his first at Mercer. Shoulders followed Ridder to Macon after sitting out the 2023-24 season at UT-Martin, which was his freshman season. 

The 6-5 wing guard started 24 of 33 games in his first season at Mercer in 2024-25, and then this season, Shoulders has started in all 13 games. As I alluded to above, he's definitely been Mercer's version of Ben Vander Wal early in his career with the Bears. Shoulders has found his way into double figures on five occasions this season. 

Shoulders had his best outing of the season in the loss at Central Florida, as he contributed 14 points in that road setback earlier this month. Shoulders isn't a great shooter, connecting on just 39.8% (33-of-83) from the field so far this season and is not a great shooter from long range either, having connected on just 26.7% (8-of-30) from three-point range this season. Shoulders is also not particularly a great free throw shooter, connecting at a 65% clip this season.

Rounding out the projected starters for the Bears entering Wednesday afternoon's contest might be the player that gives the Paladins the most headaches, in 6-10 Armani Mighty. The big man has been trouble for most foes already this season, but Furman not having Cooper Bowser around for this one, it might be even tougher.

Like Bowser, Mighty has been one of the top leaders in the SoCon in field goal percentage this season, as he currently ranks third in all of college basketball connecting at a 69.0% clip so far this season. Mighty played at Boston College and then sat out a year at Central Michigan before eventually making his way to Macon to play for the Bears. 

Mighty has been mighty good in his limited action in his career with Mercer. It will be especially tough for Furman to defend him without Cooper Bowser in the middle. He has scored in double figures in all but two games for the Bears this season, including last time out against Baptist, in which he only finished with eight points, as well as only posting eight points in the loss Winthrop. '

Mighty's best game so far this season came against Elon in a Mercer road win, as the redshirt junior from Toronto posted 22 points and 13 rebounds in the win over the Phoenix. His six double-doubles this season ranks him second in the SoCon this season.

As far as contributors off the bench for the Bears, look for wing guard Tristan Gross (5.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG), forward Connor Serven (6.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG) and guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. (7.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG). Gross, a 6-6 transfer from Stetson, has proven to be a solid addition to the Bears roster this season, as he is coming off one of his top performances of the season against Baptist, finishing with 10 points and four boards in the 122-49 rout. He also posted 10 points in wins over LaGrange and Georgia State earlier this season.

Serven is a player that has seen starting minutes this season for the Bears, and the 6-8 graduate transfer from Virginia Tech has started three games this season, including a recent outing against Washinton State, as he played 28 minutes in the 84-78 loss to the Cougars. He also has starts against Oglethorpe and the season-opener at Tennessee. 

It appears that Serven starts against teams with pretty good size in the front court, so without Furman having Bowser today, it will be interesting to see how coach Ridder goes about utilizing him. He recorded his best performance of his career against the Cougars, finishing with 15 points on a 6-for-10 performance from the field, which included going 2-of-3 from long range.

The final piece of what looks like an eight-man rotation for the Bears is Syracuse transfer Kyle Cuffe Jr., who has seen action in all 13 games for the Bears this season, which includes starting once. He has found his way into double figures on five occasions this season for Mercer, including scoring 11 points the last time out against Baptist. 

His top performance this season came in the lopsided loss at Winthrop, posting 17 points on a 6-for-12 shooting effort, including a 2-for-8 effort from three-point land. He has been a decent shooter from three-point range this season for Mercer, connecting at a 36.7% (18-of-49) clip.

Noting The Paladins:

Furman enters the contest with the Bears having won eight of its last nine, including five-straight. However, the Paladins will likely be missing big man Cooper Bowser (13.4 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 81.2 FG%) for a second-straight game, as he continues to work his way back from a lower-body injury that he suffered in a road win at Manhattan.  Furman first took a big hit in the opening exhibition this season when rotational forward Davis Molnar suffered a season-ending knee injury, immediately forcing some adjustments to be made for head coach Bob Richey and staff.

Bowser and talented freshman guard Collin O'Neal (4.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG) will be out this afternoon against the Bears, with O'Neal's expected return sometime late this month or in early February. In the meantime, the Paladins will be looking to get continued quality minutes out of true freshman guard Abijah Franklin (4.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG) and true freshman big man Owen Ritger (1.7 PPG, 2.0 RPG), while wing sophomore forward Mason Smith (2.3 PPG, 4.0 RPG) is another player that could likely break into the rotation in the SoCon opener. 

Eddrin Bronson (5.5 PPG, 1.7 RPG) could be an x-factor type player in this game against the Bears, and I really feel like the team that gets better production from its bench overall will win this game. Bronson turned in one of his best games at Furman in the late-January road win over the Bears last season, as he finished with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 4-for-6 effort from three-point range in the 79-74 road win. 

As a result of Bowser being expected to miss a second-straight start, the Paladins will insert an extra guard into the rotation, with Tom House (5.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG) expected to draw the start for the Paladins. House of course had that memorable 26-point performance against the Bears last season and has come on in recent outings for the Paladins, finishing with seven points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes of floor time against Charleston Southern in the 84-76 win last time out 10 days ago.

House also posted a season-high 16 points off the bench in Furman's 105-57 rout of Bob Jones earlier this month, as he connected on 5-of-9 shots from the field, including going 4-for-7 from three-point range. 

Alex Wilkins (16.8 PPG, 4.7 APG) and Asa Thomas (13.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG) will round out the backcourt for the Paladins on Wednesday afternoon, with forwards Charles Johnston (9.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG) and Ben Vander Wal (7.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG) rounding out the expected starting five. 

 

ETSU heads to The Citadel for SoCon Opener

 

ETSU (8-5) at The Citadel (3-10)

Dec. 30, 2025/McCalister Field House, Charleston, S.C.

6 p.m. EST

While non-conference play hasn't been anything to write home about so far this season, the new year and the start of conference play brings the hopes of promises of another exciting season on the SoCon hardwood. 

The first three league games will actually take place as the final three games in 2025, and while there is a hope that better things are ahead for the SoCon in 2026, the hope is also that the final three games of 2025 will give us something to look forward to in the calendar year ahead, and in particular, in conference play as we decide the 106th season of Southern Conference basketball. 

East Tennessee State (8-5) and The Citadel (3-10) will kick off Southern Conference basketball Tuesday night at McAlister Field House. The Bucs have been one of the top teams in the Southern Conference this season, while the Bulldogs have been playing better, but are still looking for that breakthrough performance to get off the schneid this season and end a streak of 34-straight losses to NCAA Division I competition when they host the Bucs this evening. The two teams will tip things up at 6 p.m. EST at McAlister Field House on Tuesday night. 

The Citadel went winless in SoCon play a year ago and last picked a SoCon regular season win on Feb. 24, 2024, when the Bulldogs knocked off Chattanooga, 71-62 at McAlister Field House. The last time the Bulldogs tasted victory of over a NCAA Division I foe came on Nov. 11, 2024, when The Citadel was able to post a 74-52 win over Atlantic Sun member Stetson inside the friendly confines of McAlister Field House.

The Bucs claimed both games against The Citadel last season, finishing off The Citadel 81-66 in Charleston last season in what was the final regular-season conference game for both teams, while also taking a 70-52 win over ETSU in Johnson City early in SoCon play last season. The Bucs and Bulldogs will be squaring off for the 74th time in history in SoCon play, with the Bucs holding the commanding 53-20 all-time series lead, including having won six-straight in the series.

The Bucs have some great memories in recent times from their games played in Charleston. One that comes to mind immediately dates back to the 2022-23 season, as ETSU got 42 points from former guard Jordan King in what was one of the best historical performances for a Bucs player on the road in a conference game in program history. 

King connected on 8-of-12 shots from three-point range in the win. The performance by King overshadowed a big game by Bulldogs center Stephen Clark, who scored a career-high 27 points in the home loss. 

Coaching Ties:

ETSU will come into tonight's game looking to put an end to a three-game losing skid when it pays a visit to the Low Country of South Carolina. 

For head coach Brooks Savage, he's got a unique history with Ed Conroy, as the two were together during Conroy's time as the head coach of Tulane in New Orleans back in the 2010-11 season, as Savage served as the video coordinator and Director of Player Development for the Green Wave. 

Savage, a 2008 graduate of the University of Tennessee, originally met Conroy's final season as an assistant coach at Tennessee under Bruce Pearl in 2005. Conroy would move on to become the head coach of The Citadel in his first stint in 2006, serving as the Bulldogs' head coach for four years before moving on to Tulane. 

Top Players to Watch:

Both ETSU and The Citadel have players worthy of attention this evening, with the Bucs having a backcourt that has been one of the best in the league to this point, with Brian Taylor II (14.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.0 APG) being among the handful of players that has put his name in the hat as a Player of the Year candidate.

Earlier this season, Taylor posted a triple-double against Central Arkansas, with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a lopsided win. Taylor will team with North Florida transfer Jaylen Smith (10.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG) and Allen Strothers (2.8 PPG, 3.9 APG) in the Bucs backcourt. Maki Johnson (6.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG) has been of the team's best on-ball defenders, and he has continued to be a prolific three-point option off the bench, as 22 of his 27 made field goals this season have been threes.

Only Smith's 23 trifectas ranks more on the Bucs roster this season, and both Johnson and Smith have shot the ball well from long range this season.  Smith is connecting at 37.5% clip from long-range this season, while Johnson is connecting at a 35.5% rate. 

In the frontcourt this season, ETSU is not as big as it was last year, but far more productive, with Cam Morris III (13.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG), Jordan McCullum (8.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG), and Blake Barkley (11.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG) giving the Bucs a productive and athletic front line. 

That trio is also a big reason the Bucs have been among the best defensive teams in the SoCon and in mid-major basketball so far this season. Barkley is one of the real x-factors for this team, and his work ethic on both ends is something that head coach Brooks Savage loves.

Overall, the Bucs come in leading the SoCon in scoring defense (67.5 PPG), field goal percentage defense (41.0%) and blocked shots (51/3.92 BPG). 

The Citadel counters with a pair of players averaging in double figures, led by 6-6 wing and Valdosta State transfer Braxton Williams (11.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG), while fellow wing Christian Moore (10.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG) 

Florida State transfer Sola Adebisi (8.7 PPG, 5.5 RPG) has again strong on the offensive glass for the Bulldogs this season, averaging almost two offensive boards per game, ranking in the Top 15 in the league so far this season. 

The Bulldogs shoot a lot of threes, as the Bulldogs are tied for third in the league in three-pointers made (123) and rank sixth overall in the league in three-point field goal percentage (32.2%).

The Top 10 Moments, Players, Games and Stories That Have Shaped 2025 in SoCon Hoops

 SoCon Hoops 2025 Top 10 Countdown

Chattanooga wins the 2025 NIT (photo courtesy of UTC athletics)

It's that time we all love for our favorite mid-major basketball conference, as I have put together a list of what I think are the top 10 moments of 2025 for Southern Conference basketball, which takes into account the start of the conference play all the way back last January all the way until present day.

There have been plenty of fun moments that we won't soon forget that helped define the calendar year of 2025. 

With that said, here are 10 that I have picked. 

10.  Two trip-dubs in a calendar year--When Jaden Seymour started of the 2025 calendar year with  18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against VMI, few could have guessed that a program, which had only two previous to Seymour's accomplishment, would be just the first of two such performances within the calendar year, but that would indeed be the case. 

Fast-forward 332 days to Nov. 29, 2025 and to virtually an entirely new roster and the same program name on the front of the jersey produced its second triple-double of the calendar year, as SIU-Edwardsville transfer Brian Taylor II scored  14 points, pulled down 14 boards and dished out 14 assists in helping the Bucs to a lopsided 80-57 win home win over Central Arkansas to begin the 2025-26 season. It is part of an 8-5 start to the new season for the Bucs.

VMI players following quarterfinal upset of UNCG (photo courtesy of VMI athletics)

9. Streak that Ended and Ones that Extended--Furman's 80-77 win over Chattanooga in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament meant that for the first since 2017, the top overall seed in the SoCon Tournament...aka the regular-season champion...would not cut down the nets in Asheville. 

In somewhat of a strange irony, the play that ultimately decided the win for the Paladins came from a turnover by the player that finished his career as the all-time single-season record-holder for assist/turnover ratio--Chattanooga's Garrison Keeslar--through an errant inbounds pass, which was intercepted by Paladin then freshman guard Eddrin Bronson, and that occurrence all but clinched Furman's second trip in three years to Monday night's championship game in Asheville. 

Honor Huff's last-chance three off an inbounds pass was no good, and it ended a streak of nine-straight SoCon Tournament titles won by the No. 1 overall seed entering the tourney. The last non No. 1 seed to win the SoCon Tournament was East Tennessee State in 2017, when it took the crown as the No. 3 seed, garnering that seed through tiebreakers despite finishing the season in a three-way tie with both Furman and UNCG. The loss by the Mocs ended a streak of 13-straight wins.

Chattanooga was dealt some harsh news just prior to the tournament, as the Mocs had top post player Frank Champion suffer a season-ending knee injury in the lead up to the SoCon Tournament, and without him in the paint, the Mocs struggled to duplicate their dominance in the front court, which they had enjoyed for much of the season.

Some streaks that remained intact included that fact that a 10th different champion was crowned on Monday night when Wofford knocked off No. 5 Furman, 95-88, in the title game matchup, as the 105th Southern Conference champion was crowned. It was a full-circle moment of sorts for Wofford, which not only was the most experienced team in the league and one of the most in all of college basketball in terms of returning production, but also a team that was the last to own the distinction of winning back-to-back tourney crowns when it won back-to-back titles in 2014 and '15, respectively. 

Finally, VMI kept Mike Jones' UNCG Spartans 0-for-Asheville since winning it in Wes Miller's final season at the helm at UNCG in 2021, as the Spartans went one-and-done for a fourth-straight year in the Altitude City, with a 64-57 loss to No. 7 VMI. 

Some called the Keydets the most dangerous No. 7 seed in the history of the Southern Conference Tournament, and while that might be a bit over the top, the fact that the Keydets beat both bitter rival The Citadel (W, 73-62) and to send The Citadel to the off-season following a streak of 19-straight losses, as the Bulldogs finished 5-25. That set the stage for VMI's epic upset of No. 2 seed UNCG.

Furman senior point guard PJay Smith Jr. vs. ETSU on Feb. 2, 2025 (photo courtesy of Furman athletics)

8. PJay and QP--The two most electrifying players in SoCon Basketball over the course of the 2025 calendar year both started their careers at levels below NCAA Division I basketball, as Furman's PJay Smith Jr. and ETSU's Quimari Peterson were the two most electrifying point guards in the SoCon, and two of the most electrifying in all of mid-major basketball. The two were rightfully considered the top two in the SoCon, with Peterson taking home the SoCon Player of the Year honors, while Furman's Smith would join him on the all-conference team. 

Peterson would end up topping the league in scoring (19.3 PPG) and steals (65), while ranking second in the league in three-point field goal percentage (42.2%). Peterson also finished with two 30+point performances to pace the league. All told, the Gary, Indiana native ended up leading the league in total field goals (225), total points (625), steals (65), steals-per-game (2.03) and three-point field goal percentage (42.5%).

PJay Smith was sensational in his own right, finishing second in the league in scoring (17.9 PPG), while pacing the SoCon in three-pointers made per game (3.44 PG/110 made threes). Smith delivered an epic performance on the final day of the regular-season against Wofford, as he posted 26 points, including the game-winning step-back three with 1.1 seconds remaining to clinch a 78-75 road win for the Paladins. Smith originally made his way to Furman two years ago when he transferred in from NCAA Division II member Lee University in Tennessee.

Quimari Peterson had his share of outstanding performances as well, as he posted 29 points and 13 rebounds in ETSU's 65-49 home win over UNC Greensboro last season, posting double-figure scoring performances in 31 of ETSU's 32 games last season, including 15 times in which he finished with 20 or more points. Peterson originally found his way to ETSU from John A. Logan College at the NAIA ranks, leading that program to its first-ever NJCAA National Championship during the 2022-23 season. 

Peterson is currently playing his final season of basketball at the University of Washington, where he is averaging 9.8 PPG and 3.3 RPG. PJay Smith Jr. is currently playing professional basketball in Manchester, England. 

Former Samford head coach Bucky McMillan (photo courtesy of Samford athletics)

7. Bucky's and his Ball Bounced Out to College Station--For five seasons, Bucky McMillan was the talk of Southern Conference basketball, and Bucky Ball was a sensation throughout the nation of mid-major college basketball. Then on April 4, 2025, it was learned that Bucky was going to take his ball to the big-time, as he left to become the new head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies in the big, bad SEC. 

During his five years, he restored Samford basketball from the doormat of the Southern Conference, winning 99 games over a four-year span, including helping the Bulldogs reach the NCAA Tournament and NIT in his final two seasons as the head coach in Homewood. 

He led the Bulldogs to an historic 2023-24 season, which saw the Bulldogs win a school-record 29 games, getting the Bulldogs back to the Big Dance for the first time in 23 years. He helped the Bulldogs to a 15-3 record in SoCon play in the regular-season and the top overall seed in the league's annual tournament held at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. 

The Bulldogs knocked off No. 8 Mercer (W, 70-57), No. 5 Furman (W, 84-77) and No. 7 East Tennessee State (W, 76-69) en route to winning the 2024 SoCon Tournament. The Bulldogs then followed that up by giving the Kansas Jayhawks all it could handle in the NCAA Tournament. 

His pressing philosophy kept the pressure on for the entire 40 minutes of basketball, much like when Nolan Richardson was the head coach at Arkansas, developing a fun style of his own, which was known as "40 Minutes of Hell." 

All told, McMillan finished his career at Samford with an impressive 99-52 record, winning 51 of those games in his final two campaigns as the head coach. Currently as head coach of the Aggies, McMillan has posted a 9-3 record.

WCU forward Vernon Collins (photo courtesy of Western Carolina athletics)

6. New Eras Begin at Mercer and Western Carolina--Both Mercer and Western Carolina underwent coaching changes prior to the 2024-25 season, with Ryan Ridder taking over a Mercer program looking to revive its tradition, while Tim Craft assumed the reins of a Western Carolina that has taken big steps in recent years under both Justin Gray and before that Mark Prosser.

It was fitting, then, that the two should face off against one another in the opening round and game of the 2025 Southern Conference Tournament and to no one's surprise, the game produced an epic thriller, as the Bears would end up putting on a great game to open the 105th Southern Conference Tournament, with Mercer holding off the Catamounts for a 67-66 win.

Both Craft and Ridder had their share of growing pains to endure during the 2024-25 season, however, both also had their moments and helped produce two of the biggest upsets in the regular-season in SoCon hoops, with the Bears taking down eventual league champion Chattanooga, 99-94, in overtime their SoCon opener, with Tyler "Chip" Johnson and Ahmad Robinson combining to score 51 of the Bears' 99 points, as Johnson led the way with 26, while Robinson added 25 in the win. 

Western Carolina's moment would be a little further in the future, as the Catamounts took down perennial league title contender ETSU, 76-67, at the Ramsey Center. Five Catamount players found their way into double figures, with reigning SoCon Player of the Week Marcus Kell leading the way with 18 points, as the Catamounts exploded for a huge second half, outscoring the Bucs 45-29 in the second half. 

Kell's 18-point effort was part of a flurry that he ended the season on, as he found his way into double figures in WCU's final 12 games in 2024-25 season. The 6-8 forward from Fort Mill, S.C., posted a career-high 31 points in a road loss at Chattanooga late in the season.

The Bears and Catamounts finished off decent campaigns in 2024-25, with both having major rebuilding projects to undertake from the outset of taking their respective positions as head coach at each of the two programs. The Catamounts finished ninth in the SoCon, finishing the season with an 8-22 record and a 4-14 league mark, while Mercer capped the 2024-25 season with a 14-19 overall record, which included a 6-12 mark in league play.

At 8-5 so far this season, the Bears appear to be a bit ahead of schedule when it comes to being a title contender in the SoCon, while Western Carolina is currently 4-7, having faced off against an incredibly tough non-conference slate. 

Between the two programs already this season, the two teams have faced off against Clemson, No. 25 Georgia, Central Florida, Virginia Tech, Washington State, No. 19 Tennessee, No. 6 Duke, and Cincinnati in 2025-26. 

UTC huddles before game in NIT vs. Middle Tennessee State (photo courtesy of UTC athletics)

5. Three SoCon Teams In NIT--While it hasn't been easy for multiple teams to break through and make noise in the Big Dance, one of the avenues that has been available for the league to make some noise on a big stage in the college basketball postseason has been the NIT. 

Regular-season champion Chattanooga already knew that if it didn't win the SoCon Tournament in Asheville, it would have the NIT as a Consolation prize, and the Mocs would eventually make the most of that consolation prize.

Both Furman and Samford would join the Mocs as a part of the of the National Invitational Tournament, which had the feel of being an elite mid-major postseason tournament more than ever last March. Only Georgia Tech (ACC) and Oklahoma State (Big 12) competed in the postseason tournament from power conferences.

It's been rumored that Samford's team had already hit the off-season to enjoy vacation until they learned that they would be in the NIT, so beach plans had to be put on hold for some, who had already arrived at their spring break destination. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, it would be a rude ending to the season, facing off against a good George Mason team in Fairfax, and the Patriots would promptly send the Bulldogs back on vacation by dispatching Samford, 86-69, in an opening round matchup.

Furman would fair a little better in its road matchup against North Texas in Denton, as the Paladins put up a good fight against the 2023 NIT Champions before eventually dropping a 75-64 contest. Chattanooga's run is detailed later in the countdown. 

Wofford's Kyler Filewich vs. Furman in the SoCon title game (photo courtesy of SoConSports.com)

4. An Unlikely Champion and a Championship Epic in Asheville

Wofford might be the unlikeliest history in the history of the nation's oldest conference sponsored postseason tournament. 

When Dwight Perry's Terriers arrived in Asheville, they were pretty much an afterthought, or for a lack of better of a better way to put it, the Terriers were like the guy that had stayed too long at the party without knowing when to leave. When Wofford was under the direction of Mike Young, the Terriers won five titles in a 10-year span, with none greater than that 2018-19 team that won 30 games and posted an 18-0 mark.

Since that time, the Terriers had been flirtatious with no takers, and quite simply, they haven't been a program that has approached the standard that Young and Wofford had established between 2009-19 before leaving for Virginia Tech. 

One look at Kyler Filewich's game face told you that the guy that had stayed too long at the party had one last trick up his sleeve, and that he was ultimately going to end up wooing Cinderella before the clock eventually struck midnight. There was no quit in Filewich or this group of rabid Terriers. 

Wofford had been very mediocre during the regular-season and had dropped two of its last three games entering the 2025 tournament, with both of those losses coming at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.

The Terriers finished just 10-8 in Southern Conference play, losing a heartbreaker to the very team they would go on to defeat in the championship game, as Furman came to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium and got a long, top-of-the-key three-pointer from PJay Smith Jr. three-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to take home a 78-75 win in Spartanburg in s battle that determined the No. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.

Wofford would get its revenge nine days later in Asheville before a sold-out, raucous atmosphere at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center, providing one of the best championship game atmospheres in the great history of the league.

 A crowd of 6,332 piled in the Harrah’s Cherokee Center to witness what was truly a great basketball game between the two teams in the league, which are closest in proximity to one another. It’s sometimes referred to as the “I-85 Rivalry” and the game certainly didn’t disappoint, with Wofford hitting a late 13-2 run to close out the game after Nick Anderson’s three-pointer had given the Paladins a four-point, 83-79, lead with 2:33 left.

Wofford found one last spurt, and it was its leadership—that talent that it been able to retain—that provided the ultimate statement in the end for the Terriers, as the three seniors Wofford retained (Kyler Filewich, Corey Tripp, and Jackson Sivills) and the one addition from the transfer portal (Justin Bailey) that ended up scoring each of the final 13 points of the game that proved to be decide the final outcome. It was a fitting end to a season where expectations were high coming into the season, tempered after some struggles in non-conference play, and then heightened again with a win at Saint Louis and a strong early start to league play, only to be tempered by the way Wofford struggled in the stretch run of the season, with the ability to hold a lead late in games.

Wofford had blown late leads in games at home against Samford and Furman in late February, while in early January, a 20-point blown lead in a road loss to eventual regular-season champion Chattanooga was particularly hard to swallow. But Wofford made it all right with its three-game run in Asheville, which was only its second three-game winning streak of the calendar year.

It was Jackson Sivills’ night to shine, as he scored a career-high 20 points in the last victory he would ever be a part of in a Wofford uniform. Not to be overlooked was the comprehensive tournament performance from Kyler Filewich, who took home Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors following his outstanding leadership and work on the boards in Asheville. Without him, Wofford likely doesn’t cut down the nets and punch a ticket to the Big Dance.

While all those reasons were stacked against Wofford when it arrived in Asheville, the one thing that wasn't was lack of experience and their own personal self-belief, and those were exactly the right mix for Wofford to become the first No. 6 seed in SoCon history to ever win the tournament. 

The Terriers were highly regarded in the preseason, however, as many saw the fact that Wofford was able to retain so much production from the 2023-24 team as a major positive. Led by a physical frontcourt that valued the art of rebounding in the form of Filewich, the Terriers would end up garnering a tough 72-60 win over East Tennessee State in the opening game of SoCon Madness in Asheville, and that was enough to get the Terriers going.

Following the upset of the No. 3 seed Bucs, Wofford would get some help from VMI, which upset UNC Greensboro 64-57 in the classic No. 7 over No. 2 game that always seems to take place in Asheville to take their spot in the semifinal, and by this time the Keydets were running on empty, and that path to the championship game was seemingly paved on Old Gold and Black. Wofford won its semifinal with relative ease, knocking off the pesky Keydets, 85-65. 

That set the stage for what was one of best offensive displays in a SoCon title in the history of the postseason classic. Unfortunately, Wofford's mediocre season coupled with being the No. 6 overall seed in the SoCon meant the Terriers would be the No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as Wofford headed for Lexington, KY., to face No. 2 Tennessee. 

Though the Terriers fought hard, they didn't have enough to offer the Vols any real threat in what turned out to be a 77-62 setback. The NCAA Tournament appearance marked Wofford's sixth since 2010.

Furman true freshman point guard Alex Wilkins

3. Fabulous Freshmen--One of the over-arching themes in the Southern Conference in 2025 has been the fabulous freshmen on the SoCon hoops scene. It's hard to know how much the transfer portal has factored in as of yet, but we can truly say that it has had at least some impact on the ability for some programs in the league to garner the type of talent they wouldn't ordinarily have been able to get.

The SoCon has truly had some great talents that have gone on to have tremendous freshman seasons over the years, and when you start talking about "magical" freshman seasons in the SoCon, it all starts with one player, in former Davidson guard Stephen Curry. 

Curry is one of the real talents that made his name known nationally with his ability as a shooter and scorer. Before him, a guy named Kyle Hines, who was a double-double machine during his time at UNCG also comes to mind as another of the league's truly outstanding talents. The latest talent to come through the league is Furman point guard Alex Wilkins. 

The 6-5-point guard is truly a special player and has already found his way into double figures 10 times in Furman's 13 games, including five times with 20 or more points. So have even made the claim that Wilkins is the best freshman since Curry, but that, of course, remains to be seen. What I can tell you is that he is truly a different talent. At the end of non-conference play, Wilkins is averaging 16.8 PPG to rank fourth in the league in scoring, while his 4.77 APG this season has the freshman guard in second behind only Mercer's talented freshman point guard Baraka Okojie.

Wilkins hasn't been the only freshman to shine in 2025, however. Others like Chattanooga's Tate Darner, VMI's Mario Tatum Jr., UNCG's KJ Younger, WCU's Tahlan Pettway and Wofford's Brian Sumpter have all been part of an obvious youth movement taking place in the Southern Conference. It's going to be fun to watch this group as we get into conference play and the calendar turns to 2026.

Former Wofford Head Coach Dwight Perry (courtesy of the NCAA.com)

2. Wofford's Weird Year on the Hardwood--While most would obviously summarize Wofford's 2025 calendar year as an overwhelming success, considering where the Terriers are currently under new head coach Kevin Giltner, and where they ended the 2024-25 season under Dwight Perry, which was as SoCon Champions and the league's representative in the NCAA Tournament.

However, how they got from Perry to Giltner is one of the most bizarre stories the SoCon hardwood has ever produced. It's got it all. Drama, athletic department turmoil, living situations for student athletes, and lemonade stand type money being thrown around, as well as NCAA sanctions being threatened as a result. Truly salacious. 

The truth of it is we probably haven't heard the real story because this one sounds like a witch hunt, or it sounds like a cover story for what was the real reason Perry was suddenly removed as head coach in mid-September, which was less than two months from the start of the 2025-26 season.

Perry and top assistant Tysor Anderson were let go as a result of essentially going around the administration's approval to secure off-campus housing by paying the rent up front for six newcomers, which violated a policy that stated that all first-year student athletes at Wofford must live on-campus. 

Social media sites were abuzz, making some outrageous comments towards the much-maligned college athletics governing body, which has allowed players at major schools to be paid countless millions, while levying sanctions against six Wofford basketball players over less money than it costs to pay a cable bill per month. That is until the NCAA, which rarely tweets to defend its name, did just that, making the statement that no player eligibility issues were at stake as a result of an ongoing investigation by the school.

The players moved off campus according to the reports, which was paid for with NIL money, however, they kept an on-campus meal plan, which was against Wofford's bylaws. No NCAA infractions were incurred due to any misuse of NIL money and if there was any misuse of the revenue share, it was an athletic department law and not an NCAA bylaw. 

No NCAA eligibility issues are at stake, as the central issue is a Wofford bylaw about student-athletes being required to live on campus to partake in the meal plan. Below is the originally reported story by Jeff Goodman of On3 and Field of 68.

The only way the news came to light of the athletic department administration at Wofford was due to the fact that it was alleged that Wofford's Volleyball coach, Lynze Roos, had taken up issue with the school policy violations regarding first-year student-athletes that had been allowed to go unpunished, as she was informed of the basketball players living off campus and eating on-campus from her players. Again, this is alleged, but from the folks I have talked to, this story checks out as the most accurate version of events.

Even if this "tattle tale" mystery is true, it seems like there is an issue between coaches of different sports over small stuff that should never have escalated to level which they reached. There is also the conspiratorial belief by some that Wofford just let this entire story play out and the real reasons for Perry and Anderson's dismissal will never truly be known.

What I can tell you is that Wofford, which was picked ninth out of 10 teams by the league's coaches as a result of this truly crazy story at the league's annual media day held in Greenville, S.C., has thrived under new head coach Kevin Giltner.

Giltner was the coach that I felt should have been the guy to lead Wofford basketball back in 2019 after Mike Young originally left for Virginia Tech and ultimately Young ended up taking Giltner with him when Wofford decided to hire Jay McAuley instead. 

After the December 2021 dismissal of McAuley for some bizarre findings regarding practice times and harsh treatment of players, Wofford decided to hire Dwight Perry on as the full-time head coach after Perry had done such a good job of managing the team and had been able for the most part to keep the program from completely becoming a dumpster fire after the fallout from the firing of McAuley.

Then came the Perry saga in the summer of 2025, and finally the administration got the right guy, albeit under some very bizarre circumstances. From here, however, Giltner has managed to help shine some positive light back on Wofford's hoops program, and the Terriers have been one of the most remarkable stories in mid-major basketball so far this season.

All six players that the Terriers had been in danger of losing have returned, and despite losing the entire starting five from a year ago that won the league to either the transfer portal or to other programs, Wofford has been able to post the second-best record in the league to this point in the season, with its 8-5 record tied with both Mercer and ETSU for the best mark in the SoCon through non-conference play. 

Photo courtesy of UTC athletics

1. Chattanooga Chases Down History-- For the past decade, the SoCon has made more than a case to get a second bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the most emphatic statement might have come in the 2024-25 basketball season, as Chattanooga (29-9, 15-3 SoCon) became the first team in Southern Conference history to win the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), as well as also becoming the first SoCon team to play in an NCAA sanctioned championship game since 1959, when West Virginia dropped what was a 71-70 contest to California in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament.

This Mocs 2024-25 team will now rank as one of the top teams in Chattanooga’s Basketball history, as it will rank right up there alongside teams like the 2015-16 team, which also won 29 games, as well as the 1996-97 team that went all the way to Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

The Mocs would close out the 2024-25 season with a 29-9 overall record and were an impressive 15-3 in Southern Conference play to claim the program’s 13th regular-season crown. The 85-84 win over UC Irvine in the championship game of the NIT gave the SoCon its first-ever title in an NCAA sanctioned tournament, and helped further increase the profile of the Southern Conference profile, which has continued to sustain its success as an elite level mid-major over the better part of the past decade, finishing 13th in the KenPom rankings for the second-straight season.

Chattanooga’s run to the NIT Championship and ultimately lifting the championship trophy is one of the few times you will ever see a team from a conference not make the NCAA Tournament yet go on to be the dominant story of a given basketball conference’s season, but that exactly what the Mocs did.

These kinds of stories are reserved for the league’s where the real basketball is still played in the United States of America in a new era of college athletics dominated by the transfer portal and NIL at the power conference levels. And wouldn’t you know that the team that cut down the nets in college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament, which is again sanctioned by the NCAA, was a team that at its heart was a mix of passed over guards that were too small to play at a higher level, and NCAA Division II stars with a hunger for one final opportunity to play NCAA Division I Basketball.

Those are the kind of ingredients you need to win a championship, and when Furman handed Chattanooga an 80-77 overtime loss in the Southern Conference Tournament, there was heartbreak of course, as there should have been. However, the heartbreak wasn’t allowed to last beyond Asheville, and the Mocs, which had already qualified for the NIT prior to coming to Asheville, made the most of their new and final opportunity.

Trey Bonham and Honor Huff, in many ways, were the story for the Mocs coming into the season. The two veteran guards that would get one final chance to bring home the glory for Chattanooga after having started their respective careers with their current head coach, Dan Earl, at VMI back in the 2020-21 season when Bonham arrived in Lexington, while Huff would show up a year later.

Once competitive rivals at VMI for playing time, the two ended up being best friends and ended up enjoying quite the adventure playing together during their time at both VMI and Chattanooga.

I venture to guess that neither could have envisioned becoming a part of something special as they were in March of 2025, as the two essentially helped will Chattanooga to the title. Bonham even tried to leave for one year prior to making his way to Chattanooga, as he played the 2022-23 season with the Florida Gators, while Huff awaited his opportunity to suit up for the Mocs. The SoCon has a rule that any in-conference transfer that isn’t a grad transfer there is a requirement to sit out at least one season. 

Huff sat out, and Bonham found only disappointment during his time with the Gators. However, Bonham transferring back meant that he would most likely miss out playing with Huff once again, due to the NCAA’s rule that made it mandatory for two-time transfers to sit out for at least one season, however, when that ruling was overturned in early December of 2023, it made Bonham eligible immediately, and he and Huff would start on what has been a rather 1.5-year journey playing together in a Blue and Gold Mocs uniform.

It came as little surprise, then, that Bonham was the overwhelming favorite to win SoCon Player of the Year in the preseason, however, both Bonham and Huff would start the season rather inauspiciously, and by the time non-conference play came to an end, neither was leading the team in scoring, as UTC ended non-conference play with just an 8-5 record, but when you consider the Mocs started the season with an 0-3 mark with all losses coming on the road, it was quite the recovery.

Bonham and Huff started to regain their shooting touch and affect the game more profoundly on the offensive end about the time that Frank Champion started to become healthy towards the end of December. 

Then, in SoCon play, the two would start to flourish and look like the dynamic duo of scoring threats that many had expected to be at the outset of the 2024-25 basketball season. Huff would struggle through the early portion of Southern Conference play, however, after totaling a combined 17 points in three early league contests at Mercer (6 pts), at The Citadel (6 pts) and vs. UNC Greensboro (5 pts), his season would really begin to take off in Chattanooga’s remarkable win over eventual tournament champion Wofford.

Huff’s 31-point effort against Wofford on Jan. 15 at the Roundhouse would coincide with a collective switch being flipped for the Mocs. Chattanooga, which trailed that contest by 20 in the opening half, would end up finishing off an 83-81 win against a good Terriers team. Huff and Bonham would really begin to shine in the NIT, though, and when the lights were ultimately the brightest. On the national stage, if one wasn’t hitting the big shot, the other seemingly was.

It was Huff’s late triple against Middle Tennessee State with 11.1 seconds remaining in a triple-overtime, 109-103, win that gave the Mocs ultimate lift to victory in a game that he only scored a total of six points in. The only game the Mocs really didn’t need the heroics as much in during their 2025 NIT Title run was the only home game they played as a part of the journey, which was against top seed Dayton. 

Nonetheless, both Bonham and Huff showed out, with the two combining for 51 points in the 87-72 win over the Flyers. It was Huff that would lead the way this time, pouring in 26 points on a 7-of-12 shooting effort from the field, which included a 5-for-10 effort from three-point range, while also going 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Not to be outdone, Bonham, the preseason SoCon Player of the Year, was beginning to look the part of that in the NIT, and he followed up his 27-point effort in the opener against MTSU in the triple-overtime thriller by posting 25 points against the Flyers, as he would end up connecting on 8-of-13 shots from the field, which included going 3-of-5 from three-point range and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. One thing that was especially to UTC’s success all season, but particularly in the NIT, was his rebounding ability relative to his size, at just 5-10. He helped posted a team-high eight rebounds against the Flyers, and that came on the heels of what was a 10-rebound effort in the NIT opener win at Middle Tennessee State.

The journey would get tougher, but so did Bonham and Huff. It was a trip to Bradley that would see the Mocs face maybe their biggest obstacle and most adversity along their championship chase. Playing against another worthy opponent, the Mocs found themselves down 16 points in the opening half, and were down by as many as 11 early in the second half, however, powered by a combined 38 points from both Bonham and Huff, including some clutch shooting late by Bonham, the Mocs held off the Braves for a 67-65 road win at Carver Arena, becoming just the second SoCon team to ever reach the NIT Final Four and the first since 1947.

Huff led the way with his 21-point effort coming on an 8-for-17 effort from the field, which included a 5-for-13 effort from long-range and added three assists, one steal and one rebound to his overall totals in 40 minutes of action. Bonham finished his night by contributing a 5-for-12 shooting effort from the field, which included a 4-for-8 effort from long-range and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Bonham added six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal in the win.

With the game tied, 64-64, UTC head coach Dan Earl called timeout and drew up one final "picket fence" play to take the Mocs into their own version of a Hoosiers-like story next week at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as Huff served as the decoy and Bonham played the role of Jimmy Chitwood, with his corner three with 14.2 seconds left giving the Mocs a three-point lead and put all the pressure on the Braves. The Mocs would make that hold up, winning a thrilling 67-65 decision to reach its first-ever NIT Final Four.

Following that win Bonham and Huff would be asked to deliver at least one more time in the clutch to get the Mocs to the grandest stage of all, which would be a place in the NIT Championship game. With Chattanooga having already faced adversity in the tournament at least twice, a four-point deficit (38-34) against another good opponent, in Atlantic 10 opponent Loyola-Chicago must’ve seemed small by comparison to the deficit the Mocs were faced with at Bradley, which was a 13-point at the break.

Bonham continued his string of 20-plus scoring performances, adding a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 shooting from long range, while Huff added a modest 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-for-10 from three-point land, as the Mocs slid past the Ramblers, 80-73, and into the NIT Championship game. While Huff scored only 12, it was his shooting down the stretch that once again made the difference in a Mocs victory. His three with 35 seconds remaining, helped the Mocs go up two possessions, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Ramblers.

While Huff and Bonham led the Mocs to the championship game, it was others that would end up sharing the spotlight down the stretch in the Mocs’ championship win over UC Irvine, and that’s quite alright by the two that had been such a big part of the reason why Chattanooga was able to make it to the biggest stage possible in the postseason. In the 85-84 overtime win over the Anteaters, Bonham and Huff combined to score 36 points in the championship game, with Bonham posting 19 points in the championship game, while Huff added 14.

Bonham was named the NIT’s Most Outstanding Player, while Huff finished the season with 131 three-point field goals, which ended up leading the nation.

UTC’s Newcomers Were Vital

Garrison Keeslar, Makai Richards, Frank Champion, Jack Kostel and Bash Wieland were a collection of guys that would prove to be exactly the right mix for the Mocs as the season unfolded, and it was that collection of newcomers, as well as others stepping in and stepping up, like “Big Maple” better known as Collin Mulholland, and others like big men Sean Cusano and Latif Diouf helped form just the right mix to help the Mocs attain their own place as a part of Chattanooga’s rich tradition and basketball lore.

For guys like Keeslar, Kostel, and Champion, it was also a chance to show that they could play at the highest level of NCAA Basketball, as the trio all came from the NCAA Division II level prior to making their way to the Scenic City.

For Keeslar, he finished the season as the nation’s leader in assist-turnover ratio (5.62), he was the ultimate “glue guy” for the Mocs during the 2024-25 season, and it was his “winning DNA” that any many ways captured the essence of just what this version of the Chattanooga Mocs was, which is one of the best in the rich basketball history of the school.

It was fitting then, that Keeslar’s 15-footer with 11 seconds left would be the final points of the season, as Chattanooga held off UC Irvine, 85-84, in the NIT Championship game. Only four teams will end the college basketball season with a win, however, it’s even rarer for a player to close out his career with a win for the final game he will likely put on a basketball uniform anywhere, although he’ll likely get some opportunities.

Keeslar’s leadership and effect on the team was first noted early on in SoCon play in a home game against eventual tournament champion Wofford, and it was a game that the Mocs trailed by as much as 20 points. At one point in that game, he dove out of bounds after a loose ball late in the first half against the Terriers, risking what could have been a rather serious injury, however, that proved to be from my estimation not only a turning point in that game, but perhaps for entire 2024-25 season. Keeslar dove into the bleachers and risked a few broken teeth to come up with the basketball, and that would help set a notable tone for the remainder of that game and for the remainder of the season. UTC eventually turned that large first-half deficit into an 83-81 overtime home win over the Terriers. Keeslar was widely regarded as the team’s best defender, and with his team-leading 118 assists for the 2024-25 season, also its best passer. Keeslar, who originally transferred into to UTC from little known Division II program Walsh University in North Canton, OH, and he finished out his college basketball career by averaging 6.3 PPG and 4.7 RPG to go along with those 118 helpers, while his 47 steals ranked second on the team. He ended the season seeing action in all 38 contests, including starting in 37 of those contests.

Frank Champion came to Chattanooga as an already well-decorated college basketball player at the Division II level, as he opted to spend his final season in the Mocs Blue and Gold after transferring in from just up the road at North Georgia College where he was named an NABC All-American after helping North Georgia College to an impressive 28-7 mark (13-5 Peach Belt), while averaging 17.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 4.6 APG during his final season in his final season in Dahlonega.

Champion would become a key piece to Chattanooga’s championship run, and he was there for the biggest part of that run, which was during conference play. For the first month and much of the final one, Champion spent his time on Chattanooga’s bench as the team’s main cheerleader, as his presence on the floor this season was easy to see. With him in the lineup in SoCon play, the Mocs were too deep and nearly unbeatable at one stretch of the season. In fact, the Mocs would win their final 11 games of the regular season, and that was thanks in large part to what contributions that Champion was able to provide.

The Mocs were able to weather the adversity of not having Champion for the most part in the early portions of the season, as the North Georgia College transfer wouldn’t return for the Mocs until a late non-conference test against Lipscomb, and one which would yield one of UTC’s nine losses on the season, as the Mocs dropped an 80-62 contest to the Bisons. Champion would contribute three points in 18 minutes of action in his first NCAA Division I game, as we worked his way back to 100% health-wise, however, it would only be a matter of time before Champion’s effect on Dan Earl’s offensive scheme would begin to show, and it really kind of coincided with Chattanooga’s first game in league play and first game of 2025, which would come on the road at Mercer.

Though he would record 12 points, three rebounds and an assist in a late non-conference road win at Evansville, Champion would really begin to come to life as a player with the start of conference play and in a road test at upstart Mercer. Though the Mocs would eventually end up losing the game to the Bears, 99-94, in overtime, Champion’s performance didn’t go unnoticed, as he finished the contest a season and Chattanooga-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds and an impressive six assists. 

Champion’s ability to pass out of the high post in Dan Earl’s offense made the Mocs just that much more efficient offensively. The Mocs were now functioning at an optimum level offensively, and that would prove to be detrimental to the foes UTC would face over the course of the remaining Southern Conference games in the 2024-25 season.

Champion’s performance against Mercer in the SoCon opener marked one of the three 20-point scoring performances during SoCon play, with his 24-point effort against the Bears marking his high-scoring total for the Mocs in a Chattanooga uniform. He also finished the season a 20-point, six-rebound effort in a win at Wofford, while recording his final 20-point scoring performance against Western Carolina and also finished with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in the late-season home win over the Catamounts, flirting with a triple-double. All told, Champion finished the season with 14 double-figure scoring performances in 23 games, starting 22 of those contests.

He finished the regular-season and his Chattanooga career averaging 11.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 3.8 APG, as he garnered Second-Team All-SoCon honors for his efforts. Unfortunately for Champion and for the Mocs, in the lead-up to the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, Champion would end up suffering a season-ending knee injury during mid-week practice, and while it would affect the Mocs not having him in the lineup in the Southern Conference Tournament, the Mocs would adjust by the time the NIT rolled around. 

Champion and his contributions in the regular-season for UTC will not be soon forgotten, and there were even some coaches and media around the league that thought Champion was the top player in the league in how he could affect a game during the 2024-25 season.

Following the injury to Champion, it was up to guys like Collin Mulholland, Makai Richards, Sean Cusano and Latif Diouf off the bench. It was Mulholland that, in the biggest game of the Mocs’ season and in one of its biggest in program history, that would step up and really shine for the Mocs, and the biggest thing he did right in the Mocs’ 85-84 win over the Anteaters was he didn’t stop shooting the basketball. 

He finished out the game by sharing team-high scoring honors with Trey Bonham, as he posted his 19 points mostly on a 5-for-17 shooting performance from three-point range. All told, the guy they call “Big Maple” finished the game going 6-for-19 from the field and added four rebounds and an assist in 28 minutes of action.

Mulholland was especially big for the Mocs throughout the NIT, and in including his 19-point effort in the championship win, Big Maple also scored in double figures in wins over Middle Tennessee State (21 pts) and in the home win over Dayton (11 pts). 

Prior to the NIT, Mulholland had only had three total double-figure scoring performances the entire season, and in none of those previous three double-figure scoring efforts earlier in the season were more than 10 points in total.

The Kitchener, Canada product scored a season and career-high 21 points in UTC’s opening round, 109-103, triple overtime thriller at Middle Tennessee State. In that contest, he posted his season and career high performance by going 6-of-10 from the field, which included a 3-for-7 effort performance from three-point range and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the classic of a game. All told, Mulholland finished his first season in a Chattanooga uniform seeing action in 36 games, which included logging five starts and averaged 6.0 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 1.4 APG.

The good news for Dan Earl and the rest of Mocs fans out there is that Mulholland is back for three more years and has a huge upside, and will only gain in skill and shooting ability over the off-season. He finished the 2024-25 season with a 48.1 FG% (76-of-158) and shot a solid 35.2% (31-of-88) from three-point land.

Makai Richards will have one season of eligibility after transferring into Chattanooga prior to the start of the 2024-25 season. Like Mulholland, the 6-10, 225-lb big man was especially big for the Mocs after Champion went out of the lineup with a season-ending knee injury just prior to the Southern Conference Tournament. Richards raised more than a few eyebrows with his early-season performance against one of the perennial mid-major powers, in St. Mary’s, as the Pacific transfer would end up posting a season-high 19 points in what was an 86-74 loss to the Gaels. Richards would go 8-of-12 from the field, which included finishing the contest with one of his two made three-pointers on the season, as he finished 1-for-1 from long range.

As the season progressed, his role would end up reaching into the double-figure scoring column three more times during the season, posting 17 points in a solid win over Bryant, while finishing out the postseason with two more double-figure scoring efforts, posting 10 points in the SoCon Tournament quarterfinal win over Mercer, and added 10 points in UTC’s NIT semifinal win over Loyola-Chicago. Richards will return as a key piece to the puzzle for Dan Earl’s team in 2025-26, and his role and minutes increased during the postseason with the injury to Champion. He will be a viable building block for the Chattanooga frontcourt moving forward into next season.

Another player with tremendous upside in the frontcourt heading into the 2025-26 season is Latif Diouf.

Like Richards, Diouf would see his role increase as the season progressed and then met with some adversity with a minor injury, however, would return late in the season to have an impact on Dan Earl’s winning formula.

The 6-9, 240-lb true freshman from Gouda, Netherlands started out the season as being one of the impact players in the paint for the Mocs while Champion worked his way back from an injury.

Diouf would start the first nine games of the season and would log action in a total of 31 games with nine starts, and showed a very high skill level in his action on the floor this season. His passing skills are exceptional; however, he needs to work on improving his perimeter shooting during the off-season. He enjoyed his best scoring performance in the second game of the season against St. Mary’s, posting eight points in 20 minutes of action. Diouf finished the season averaging

Rounding out the puzzle in the paint for the Mocs in the 2024-25 season was 6-9, 215-lb sophomore Sean Cusano, who like Diouf, Mulholland and Richards, is set to return to the fold next season and it gives the Mocs a trio that will be considered one of the best frontcourt trios in the league next season.

Cusano has a game similar to Mulholland’s, and he is much more athletic than his frontcourt teammate in the low-post. Cusano found his way into double figures in five games during the 2024-25 season, and it would be highlighted by a 16-point effort in a win over non-Division I foe Johnson. He would finish the season seeing action in 35 games, which included four starts. The native of Hilton Head, S.C., would finish out the season averaging 4.5 PPG and 3.7 RPG.

Finally, both Bash Wieland and Jack Kostel had a profound impact on winning this season for the Mocs, and for Wieland, he was unquestionably the best player through non-conference play, especially while Trey Bonham and Honor Huff found their rhythm offensively.

Wieland joined Richards as the only Division I additions from the transfer portal during the off-season. The 6-6, 215-lb senior guard finished the season as a Second-Team All-SoCon selection, as the Bellarmine transfer fit right in the rotation for the Mocs from the outset of the season.

The senior guard started 35 of the 36 games he was a part of this season, and Wieland entered the season nursing a minor injury, which forced him to miss the season-opening trip to California.

He would return to the lineup when the Mocs returned to the Volunteer State to take on Austin Peay. His impact was almost immediate, and though the Mocs would lose a 67-61 contest in Clarksville, Wieland shined in the game, posting 19 points in the six-point setback. It would end up being the first of 26 double-figure scoring performances for the graduate senior, with his season and career-high 31 points in the Mocs’ opening round NIT win at Middle Tennessee State. In the victory over the Blue Raiders, Wieland connected on 10-of-19 shots from the field, which included a 2-of-3 effort from long range. Wieland was a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe against the Blue Raiders, and he played nearly 48 minutes! It was an incredible performance by Wieland, who had winning DNA from the outset for the Mocs, and though he played Division I basketball before at Bellarmine, played like he had been invested to Chattanooga as a Mocs player for four years.

Wieland finished the season by contributing 20+ scoring performances on nine occasions. About the only real weakness Wieland had as a part of his overall game was he wasn’t the greatest of perimeter shooting threats, finishing shooting just 31.6% (30-of-95) from long-range during his only season for the Mocs. 

He finished the 2024-25 season by averaging 14.1 PPG and 4.1 RPG and was the Mocs’ third-leading scorer. I’ve said it plenty of times before this season, but Wieland was a player that reminded me a lot of a player the Mocs had during the mid-late 1990s, in David Phillips.

The final piece to the puzzle was Jack Kostel, who came to Chattanooga after playing four years at University of Alabama-Huntsville where he played former Mocs coach John Shulman. Kostel, a 6-2, 185-lb senior guard wasn’t a player that was going to provide a whole lot in the way of scoring; however, he did provide a great amount of energy off the bench, and he would find his way into double figures on three occasions during his only season with the Mocs. 

His best scoring effort came in UTC’s SoCon opener on the road at Mercer, finishing the contest with 11 points on a 4-for-5 shooting effort from the field in what was a 99-94 overtime setback.

Kostel provided what was needed at the time in any given game for the Mocs, whether it was diving on the floor after a loose ball, or knocking down a timely three, Kostel was the type player that seemingly had an uncanny ability to make the right play or the play his team needed at the exact opportune moment. Kostel also came off the bench to add 10 points in an important early February win over Furman.

Each newcomer added their own role into the mix, and the sum of those parts, which supplemented the two main cogs, in Honor Huff and Trey Bonham, proved to be what made the Mocs such a tough team and one that would put together one of the greatest runs of any team in program history, tying the school-record for wins and doing something no other Southern Conference team has done, which is win an NCAA-sanctioned tournament.

Huff ultimately ended up deciding to spend his final season playing at the power conference level of NCAA Division I college basketball at West Virginia, where he currently averages 17.5 PPG and is shooting a blistering 41.3% (62-of-150) to lead the team. He finished his final season at UTC with a single-season school-record with 131 threes made last season and his 62 made triples leads the country this season.