The Unofficial Furman Football Page

We had a great time in Asheville--with my wife and 21 year old son. 10 games in 3 days (8 men and two ladies) So disappointed I did not make it 11 games. But its more than the basketball! Like the free Furman toboggan cap I picked up at the Furman pre game gathering.

As I was checking out of hotel this morning, an older man saw my purple shirt and said "we almost did it." I asked him if he was a Furman fan, and he introduced himself as the "last player to score 50 points in a game before Jordan Lyons did it." Dick Esleeck, FU Hall of Famer, '67-'69.

Here is Furman bio on him: Dick Esleeck ‘69
Basketball (1965-69)
Inducted 1983
Dick Esleeck was selected as a Helms Foundation Basketball All-American in 1969. He earned first team All-Conference honors in 1968 and 1969. He led the Paladins in scoring and free throw percentage (1968, ’69) and ranked tenth in career points in Paladin basketball at the time of his induction.

Super nice man; said it was first time he had seen us play in many years.

**********
At end of Mercer game, Coach Hoffman had a brief hug/exchange with Lyons. I did not realize until later that Hoffman had been yellng at his players "Let him shoot! Let him shoot! He cant hit anything!" or something to that effect. Then Lyons nails a 3 and goes on a run. Right after he makes the 3, he looks over at Hoffman, who then tries to get Lyons called for a technical. A reliable source tells me that Coach Hoffman apologized to Lyons shen they met after the game. Great story....the kind of thing you only pick up if you are there.


Enjoyed meeting both Clay and Jordan's moms; we were hanging out on the hotel terrace before the UNCG game, and the two of them came over and introduced themselves, sat down and chatted with us for a bit. Loved seeing Lyons dad excited when Jordan went on his run. Rex Brown holding a grandbaby while watching his son play his final SoCon game. Rafferty's dad getting a hug from Geoff Beans after we lost. Meeting Noah's parents last night at the hotel. Talking with Alex's parents--and hearing him yell at Alex after a missed shot: "You shoot like your mother!" Listening to Taggart's Dad telling stories from his days as student trainer at Furman in the mid 70's. Good stuff.

I could go on and on, but won't. It's been a fun season and I congratulate--and thank--all of the staff and players!

I'm very thankful to have seen Rafferty and Brown play in their last SOCON tournament - great guys and great talents.

I hate that we have such trouble getting over the semi-finals hump. But I really like the fact that we are competitive, that we can win any game we play, and that our team is a class act.

I know the year is not over, but looking to 2019-2020, I believe:

- Wofford and UNCG will lose a large number of their best guys.
- 4 of 5 starters are returning to Furman, at least 2 solid bench players are returning, and we have 3 well-regarded recruits coming to Furman.
- Bad news: that guy Sharkey will return for what seems like his 11th year at Samford. Undoubtedly he is completing a Ph.D.

furman86 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:51 am

I'm very thankful to have seen Rafferty and Brown play in their last SOCON tournament - great guys and great talents.

I hate that we have such trouble getting over the semi-finals hump. But I really like the fact that we are competitive, that we can win any game we play, and that our team is a class act.

I know the year is not over, but looking to 2019-2020, I believe:

- Wofford and UNCG will lose a large number of their best guys.
- 4 of 5 starters are returning to Furman, at least 2 solid bench players are returning, and we have 3 well-regarded recruits coming to Furman.
- Bad news: that guy Sharkey will return for what seems like his 11th year at Samford. Undoubtedly he is completing a Ph.D.

Will be fun fodder after the season ends, but I think we will be pretty nasty next year. I have no doubt our guys will get better in the off season ... imagine a more consistent Mounce and Gurley, Lyons as a senior, Hunter as a junior, Clark improved on the offensive end with his D, Slawson and Bothwell a year older ... maybe Pugh gets some minutes. And whatever the freshmen bring to the table. We are certainly building something fun right now.

I remember Dick Esleeck. He was my favorite player and I was there the night he scored 50. I was at every Furman game, LOL. I believe the game was against Newberry but not sure. DE averaged 24.5 points a game that year which was his senior year.

I remember Dick Esleeck for sure. It seems like one year we did awfully well in the So Conf tourney in Richmond when he was a player and I was there. Maybe we even won it.

Still upset we were up 58-53 with 4:51 and did not close the deal. Galloway and Alonzo stepped up and hit 3’s for them. So close!

furman86 wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:51 am

- Bad news: that guy Sharkey will return for what seems like his 11th year at Samford. Undoubtedly he is completing a Ph.D.

Tenured faculty.

From where I sat...(post-tourney musings)...

Kudos to those Furman fans able to spend the weekend in Asheville. I hope to do so one day. As for now, I spent 8 hours of cumulative driving back and forth to the two Furman games (and also took in the ETSU/WC game yesterday). Enjoyed my time in Asheville and was looking forward to another trip back tonight. It just wasn't meant to be.

We were just off last night. I suspect that MR's injury had a lot to do with it - his shots didn't fall and passes weren't as crisp. Thought it rubbed off on the entire team. Hope his thumb gets better for the postseason.

Another factor was the energy in the building and how deflated it felt after the ETSU/WC game. Our players were in the tunnel watching the game before ours and I'm sure feeling the electricity in the air while that first game was going on. If you weren't there, believe me - the place was full and it was rocking. I can't help but imagine how it felt running out to a 3/4 empty building to warm up for our game (and getting booed by the WC who were still left in the arena).

We have got to do better. I am at a loss as to how a school half our size can get that kind of crowd to the tourney and we can't. Those were two big time programs in the first game - and that game had a big time program feel to it. I get that WC has a better team/program than us at this point, and I'm encouraged that we are starting to close the gap. But we need some of that "big time program" mojo. The WC band, cheerleaders, dance team, students, and fans showed us up.

I understand that they have a winning tradition established and that we are still getting there, but there was a lot of excitement about our program this year and I thought that we would "show up and show out" in Asheville. After Saturday's decent crowd and good performance by the team against Mercer, I was hoping for a great turnout of students and fans on Sunday. Boy was I disappointed - and I'm sure the team was too.

I have more questions than answers at this point, so forgive my rambling. The band was awesome, but what do we need to do to get the students there? What about the dance team and a full cheer squad? Is Spring Break the issue or is it something else? And what does it take to get Paladin Nation to show up? Are we going to have to be undefeated in the conference and nationally ranked to get the turnout that WC had this weekend?

We travel very well for football - arguably the best in the SoCon and certainly better than WC. What is different about basketball?

I think it really boils down to 39 years of failure in this tourney. The fans, the team, the students etc etc every year go hoping to win. WC goes every year expecting to win. They have reached that point and we have not. I am afraid their new arena and their recent success will be hard to overcome. Success breeds success. Unfortunately that ball is in WC's possession now. It's funny the only time we have reached the finals in recent times is when we finished last and had a bunch of freshmen and just played loose and almost won the darn thing. FU fans showed up for the finals and we have to get back to the finals for them to show up again. We have to learn to handle success and play without thinking about the end result. I sure would have liked another shot at Wofford even with MR not 100%.

apaladin wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:16 pm

I think it really boils down to 39 years of failure in this tourney. The fans, the team, the students etc etc every year go hoping to win. WC goes every year expecting to win. They have reached that point and we have not. I am afraid their new arena and their recent success will be hard to overcome. Success breeds success. Unfortunately that ball is in WC's possession now. It's funny the only time we have reached the finals in recent times is when we finished last and had a bunch of freshmen and just played loose and almost won the darn thing. FU fans showed up for the finals and we have to get back to the finals for them to show up again. We have to learn to handle success and play without thinking about the end result. I sure would have liked another shot at Wofford even with MR not 100%.

Good points. Couldn't believe it when I looked it up, but we've only been to two finals since 1980 - 2002 and 2015. Almost won both times as a low seed. Can't make the big dance if you aren't at the pre-party.

The dang admin at Furman have got to step it up and support this freaking program, running a half ass effort 2 days before the tournament starts to try and get students there is a microcosm of how little support the FU admin provides the basketball program. I am just plain sick of it after all these years
Everything FU does in the marketing department is half assed, we need more from that area and I mean a lot more than we are getting

I need to cool off more before I post anything about the support from the administration. However, in a word, pathetic.

apaladin wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 2:16 pm

I think it really boils down to 39 years of failure in this tourney. The fans, the team, the students etc etc every year go hoping to win. WC goes every year expecting to win. They have reached that point and we have not. I am afraid their new arena and their recent success will be hard to overcome. Success breeds success. Unfortunately that ball is in WC's possession now. It's funny the only time we have reached the finals in recent times is when we finished last and had a bunch of freshmen and just played loose and almost won the darn thing. FU fans showed up for the finals and we have to get back to the finals for them to show up again. We have to learn to handle success and play without thinking about the end result. I sure would have liked another shot at Wofford even with MR not 100%.

Then I guess I look at things ass-backwards. Had we shown up last night and got the place rocking like I've seen happen at Timmons many a time, I think we pull the guys through last night and we all get that finals appearance that we're waiting around for.

gman wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 11, 2019 4:54 pm

I need to cool off more before I post anything about the support from the administration. However, in a word, pathetic.

gman AND DungeonRealm both seem to point to Administration’s weak support for basketball. Along the same lines, I believe the FU Board of Trustees should firmly guide the Administration in the direction of much better support for basketball.