Friday night's meeting at the Curb Events Center in Nashville will mark the fourth-straight season in which the two teams have faced off on the college basketball hardwood.
Furman has not been 100% healthy in either the preseason or in the season opener, as the Paladins were without all-conference guard PJay Smith Jr. (10.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG), who is Furman's senior point guard, and the lone Paladin picked to the preseason all-conference team. Smith Jr. is the leading returning scorer for the 'Dins, having averaged 10.0 PPG and shot 36.3% from three-point range (74-of-204) from three-point range last season, as well as 6-11 transfer center Charles Johnston also missed the Paladins' season opener against Columbia International.
The Paladins have won each of the past two meetings between the two--both in Greenville and both by double digits--as the Paladins posted an 89-74 win over the Bruins in November of 2022 at Timmons Arena, and then followed that up a year later by coming up with a resounding 99-76 win at Timmons Arena last year. In the last meeting between the two in Nashville in November of 2021, the Bruins held off the Paladins, 95-89, in an overtime thriller.
Furman and Belmont will be meeting on the college basketball hardwood for the sixth time Friday night, with Furman holding the narrow 3-2 series edge.
Both Furman and Belmont are coming off wins in their respective openers, with the Paladins posting a 104-46 win over NAIA Columbia International, while Belmont overcame a 43-40 halftime deficit to get a come up with a 93-70 win over Maryville (TN) in its season opener at the Curb Events Center.
Belmont's Tradition
Belmont is a program that has been synonymous with success in mid-major basketball, having earned a postseason bid to be a part of some college basketball postseason tournament in 15 of the past 19 years, which includes nine NCAA Tournament appearances in that span, with the most recent coming in 2020. That NCAA Tournament, of course, was never played as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006, which includes eight tournament titles in both the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley, as well as having claimed a combined 12 regular-season conference titles in those respective leagues over that same span. Belmont will be beginning its fourth season inside the mid-major power conference--the Missouri Valley Conference--and are projected
to finish sixth in the 12-team league last month at the league's media day.
While Furman has won 199 games since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Bruins have won 213 games over that same span, including having won 119 games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Those 119 wins over that span is tied for 13th in NCAA Division I college basketball for the most wins over that same five-year window. The Bruins are in some pretty elite company, having posted 19 or more wins in a season for 19-straight seasons, with only Duke, Kansas, San Diego State and Gonzaga having matched that type of winning consistency in NCAA Division I college basketball. Belmont's 347 conference wins (including conference tournament wins) is second to only Gonzaga's 353 league triumphs since 2003.
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| Former Belmont legendary head coach Rick Byrd |
In the 2023-24 season, the Bruins finished what was a 20-13 season, which included a 12-8 conference mark, which was good enough for a tie for fourth in the league's final standings alongside Northern Iowa. It would be the Panthers that would end up ending the Bruins' 2023-24 campaign, knocking off the Bruins, 67-62, in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament last March.
Belmont's NCAA Division I basketball tradition owes much of its gratitude to Rick Byrd, who was largely responsible for building the brand of Bruins basketball nationally as a mid-major basketball power.
Byrd began his Hall-of-Fame career at Belmont back in 1986, taking over a Bruins program that, at the time, was an NAIA program. He would help usher in a new era and was instrumental in helping the Bruins make the jump to NCAA Division I basketball in the late 1990s. His 805 wins ranks 12th in NCAA history, and Byrd won 658 games in his 33 years (1986-2019) as the Bruins' head basketball coach, retiring in 2019. Byrd spent four seasons as the head coach at Lincoln-Memorial (1983-86) before finding his home at Belmont where he would become a mid-major basketball coaching legend.
The Bruins are under another capable head coach in Casey Alexander, who is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Bruins, having posted an impressive 119-43 record.
Program Similarities and Culture
In many ways, Belmont and Furman have a lot in common in terms of culture, retention of players and overall deep-held beliefs about the way you build a sustainable winning product, but at the same time, there's a focus on the beyond basketball aspect of the program.
Both programs also hold the distinction of being a player that develops high-level players that have a potential at moving on to even get the attention of the NBA. That's exactly what happened in 2023 when both Furman's Jalen Slawson (2nd rd/54th pick of the Sacramento Kings) and Belmont wing Ben Sheppard (1st rd/26th pick of the Indiana Pacers) were both examples of what happened when guys stayed, trusted the system and worked while they waited to acheive the ultimate goal.
Then the mirror images between the two programs continued, with both Belmont and Furman losing their top respective players to the transfer portal. Belmont's talented point guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Furman's talented point guard and Nashville native JP Pegues would both end up being snatched up by power five programs, with JP Pegues ending up at Auburn and Gillespie finding a new home in the Big Ten at Maryland.
Both Pegues (18.4 PPG, 4.9 APG, 4.3 RPG) and Gillespie (17.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.2 APG) ended up leading their respective teams in scoring a year ago.
In fact, both teams would lose their top three scorers to the portal from last season. Also moving on for the Bruins were 6-10 center Malik Dia (16.9 PPG, 5.8 RPG) and 6-8 forward Cade Tyson (16.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG), who both decided to continue their respective careers at Ole Miss and North Carolina, respectively. Tyson was the nation's top three-point shooter a year ago, knocking down a blistering 46.5% of his shots from long-range (80-of-172) last season.
Furman also lost its second and third leading scorers, in both wing guard Marcus Foster (17.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG), who has moved on to Xavier, while forward Alex Williams (13.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG), who was a high school teammate of current Belmont Bruin wing Aidan Noyes at famed Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, OH., has moved on to Duquesne. Williams was likely the most surprising one of the ones to leave the Paladin program, as he was the only one that made more of a lateral move in terms of where he transferred to, but still managed to level up in league competition, as he will be playing in the mid-major power conference the Atlantic 10 in 2024-25.
The fourth player lost--Carter Whitt--is one that Belmont will know very well, in Carter Whitt. The talented 6-3 guard started his career under Steve Forbes at Wake Forest for two seasons before playing a couple of years at Furman, seeing his most extensive action last season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 3.9 APG, starting 23 of 33 games he saw time in last season.
In fact, Furman lost 70.8% of the team's scoring to the portal, or if you're looking for it in mathematical terms the Paladins lost 56.5 of their 79.5 PPG average from last season, it forces you to look to the portal. Both Furman and Belmont have brought in reinforcements to try and address the massive departures.
With that said, both programs have enough returned to the fold that should once again make them a factor in their respective mid-major leagues in 2024-25.
A look at the 2024-25 Belmont Bruins
Like Furman, prior to the NIL/transfer portal era, Belmont had a near 100% retention rate of their players. There was no reason to leave either program and no big money to lure them away from two programs that won games regularly.
While the Bruins only have two starters returning to the fold for the upcoming season, there is plenty of optimism moving forward into the 2024-25 season. The Bruins even have a familiar face to Paladin fans, in projected starting point guard Carter Whitt, who is slated to start for the Bruins against the Paladins Friday night. Whitt, who is a graduate transfer, did not play in the opener, as he had a minor injury and sat out the season opener.
Whitt was a fixture in the Furman starting five a year ago, making 33 appearances, including 15 starts. He finished the campaign averaging 7.9 PPG, 3,1 RPG, 3.5 APG and 1.2 SPG. He posted four games with 20 or more points, with his best scoring performance coming in a road loss at UNCG, as he posted a season-high 23 points and dished out six helpers. His 117 helpers last season ranked Whitt sixth overall in the SoCon in assists.
In his first season as a Paladin, Whitt logged action in 29 games and averaged 2.5 PPG, 1.6 RPG and 2.1 APG, helping the Paladins to a school-record 28 wins. Whitt posted eight points and dished out a season-best 10 assists, while grabbing four boards in a big road win over VMI.
If Whitt doesn't start, he should see major minutes for the Bruins, becoming the second former Paladin to face his former school, joining JP Pegues, who faced off against Furman when Auburn downed the Paladins, 82-61, in a charity exhibition a couple of weeks ago. Pegues posted two points on 1-of-4 shooting effort against the 'Dins.
Another familiar face to the Paladins on Friday evening will be 6-2 Liberty graduate transfer Brody Peebles (12.0 PPG, 2.0 APG). The former Flames guard was one of three Liberty players in double figures, as the Flames handed Furman its first of 16 losses in the 2023-24 season, downing the 'Dins, 88-74, at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C., as a part of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. Peebles was Liberty's second-leading scorer in the contest, as he put up 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, which included a 2-for-5 effort from three-point land.
In Belmont's season-opening win over Maryville this past Monday, Peebles posted 12 points and dished out a pair of assists in 20 minutes of action, connecting on 5-of-13 from the field, however, missed all five of his three-point field goal attempts. Peebles was also noted for his extreme care he took of the basketball during his time in Lynchburg, leading Conference USA with the lowest turnover rate of anyone in the league.
In his final season with the Flames last season, Peebles saw action in 32 games, which included making three starts. He finished the 2023-24 season shooting 45.4% (128-of-282) from the field and 33.6% (45-of-134) from three-point range, while connecting on a blistering 87.5% (42-of-48) from the charity stripe. He finished his final season with the Flames averaging 10.7 PPG and 1.9 RPG.
Another notable addition via the transfer portal for the Flames last season comes to Belmont from Richmond, in 6-7 wing Aidan Noyes (9.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG). Noyes logged action in 27 games over two combined seasons for the Spiders, finishing his second season with Richmond averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.5 RPG, seeing action in 15 games, which included seven starts.
The junior from Cincinnati, OH posted a career-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-for-3 from long-range in the Bruins' 93-70 season-opening win over Maryville. Noyes is a good shooter and someone the Paladins will have to be wary of at all times on Friday night.
Belmont returns two players with starting experience from a year ago, in junior wing guard Isaiah Walker (19.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.0 APG) and 6-9 sophomore forward Brigham Rogers (10.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 APG). Walker is a veteran that has started 24 games in his career, while having seen action in a total of 64 games over the previous three seasons. Both are expected to start on Friday night against the Paladins.
Walker is the fourth guard in the Belmont offense and is expected to have a breakout season for the Bruins. The 6-5 junior guard opened the 2024-25 season in a big way against Maryville, as he posted a career-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, which included an impressive 3-for-4 effort from three-point range in the season-opening win.
During the 2023-24 campaign, Walker averaged 5.9 PPG, 4.8 RPG and dished out 1.9 APG, seeing action in 33 contests, which included 23 starts. Walker had four double-figure scoring efforts in the 2023-24 season, with his previous career-high of 13 points coming in an 87-75 upset win over Drake at the Curb Events Center. Walker shot just 31.8% (28-of-88) from long range last season.
Rogers will also be asked to take on a bigger scoring role this season, and like Walker, he made a statement in the season opening win this past Monday night, finishing in double figures in the season opener with 10 points and four boards in 17 minutes of court action. Rogers saw action in 33 games, with nine starts as a freshman last season, with two double-figure scoring games, which included a career-high 15 points against Valpo in an 86-61 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament win last March.
Perhaps Belmont's most-heralded addition from the transfer portal during the off-season is 6-9 Jonathan Pierre, who joined the Bruins after playing one season at Memphis, where he saw very limited action. He saw action in 19 games, with one start in his time with the Tigers.
Prior to his time with the Tigers, Pierre was a significant piece of 2023 NCAA Division II National Champion Nova Southeastern, where he averaged 14.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 3.4 APG while helping the Sharks to a perfect 36-0 season. The 6-9 forward, according to his coach Casey Alexander, could have easily gone power five.
In the season opener against Maryville, Pierre would see his first action for the Bruins and posted four points and nine rebounds. He is a physical presence that operates at a high skill-level, as evidenced by his assists numbers. He'll be a tough matchup for the Paladins on Friday evening.
A trio of 6-9 freshmen should also see action in Friday night's contest, with 6-9 Drew Scharnowksi (5.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG), 6-9 Eoin Dillon, 6-9 Sam Orme (15.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG) are all expected to play key roles in their rookie seasons with the program. Orme is a former all-state player out of the basketball hotbed of Indiana, while Scharnowski is an all-state performer out of the state of Illinois.
Noting The 'Dins:
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| Furman RS Freshman guard Eddrin Bronson |
Johnston is better than a 40% shooter from long-range, and he was one of three Paladins in double figures in the 82-61 exhibition loss to No. 11 Auburn, posting 12 points, going 2-of-5 from long-range an was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Johnston came to Furman after having spent two seasons at Cal State Monterrey Bay.
Johnston posted 13 double-doubles last season and ranked fifth in NCAA Division II in rebounding last season, yanking down 10.7 RPG. He set a single-season school record for total rebounds in a single season at Cal State Monterrey Bay last season and is a native of Sydney Australia. He has played just 4.5 years of organized basketball, but he is an outstanding shooter.
Furman's other two newcomers--Tom House (Florida State/21.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG) and Nick Anderson (Barry University/9.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG) are both listed as starters at guard for the Paladins Friday night at Belmont. Should Smith Jr. be unavailable at the point position once again due to a minor hand injury, look for House, who scored a game-high 21 points to step in and take over the point guard responsibilities once again against the Bruins.
House has a comfort level uncanny to a mid-major guard, and his seamless transition as a "do what is needed" guy shows his time spent playing at a higher level of competition as a guard in the ACC for Florida State, as he spent two seasons in Tallahassee and saw action in 53 games and scored 78 points. Like so many of Bob Richey's players, House specializes in being an outstanding perimeter shooter.
The same can be said of the 6-3 Anderson, who comes to Furman from NCAA Division II Barry University, where he played for former Furman head coach Butch Estes (1986-95). Anderson posted a team-high 19 points in Furman's charity exhibition loss against Florida State.
Though the Paladins lost JP Pegues, Marcus Foster, Alex Williams and Carter Whitt to the portal, there is a talented, experienced core of leadership back. Senior forward Garrett Hien (5.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG), junior forward Ben VanderWal (4.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG), and senior forward Tyrese Hughey (11.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG) were all a part of a team that won 28 games two years ago and broke through to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 43 years and win a tournament game for the first time in 49.
Hien and VanderWal are listed as projected starters for Friday night's road contest. Hughey registered his second-career double-double in the win over the Columbia International in the season opener, contributing 11 points and 12 boards.
Center Cooper Bowser (8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG) expects to have a breakout sophomore center as the man in the middle for the 'Dins, and he rounds out the projected starters for Friday night's contest in Nashville.
The Paladins are deep, and while this team might not have the star talent as some of Richey's other teams, he's had in now his eighth season at the small Liberal Arts school, however, the team is every bit as deep as any Richey has had and might be the most like a complete team. Furman will feature a 9-10 rotation most nights in the 2024-25 season.
The Paladins will rely on a good a solid trio quartet off the bench, with sophomore forward Davis Molnar (7.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG) being more a "glue guy" for the Paladins, while guards Eddrin Bronson (10.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG) and Tommy Humphries (15.0 PPG), who are both redshirt freshmen, both finished in double figures for Furman in their first respective official outings for Furman, with Bronson contributing 10 points in the season-opening win, while Humphries added 15.
Another of Furman's best shooters that is also an underclassman is true freshman forward Mason Smith (11.0 PPG, 5.O RPG), who ended up with 11 points in the season opener against Columbia International. Smith is a former three-star recruit out of Davidson Day High School and originally was originally committed to Mercer before the school decided to part ways with Greg Gary at the end of the season, and Smith subsequently flipped his commitment to Furman.
If anything, Furman does better than some of Richey's other talented teams in Greenville, this team is one that might be the best he's had on the defensive end of the floor, and that will certainly give the Paladins a chance to cut down the nets for a second time in three seasons in Asheville come tournament time. That's a long way off, however, suffice to say Furman's dedication and connectivity on the defensive end of the floor should keep it in a majority of games this season. Don't sleep on the 'Dins.
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