By MONTE DUTTON

It turned chilly on Wednesday, but it didn’t start raining outside until after Presbyterian senior Kobe Stewart rained 6/7 three-pointers on Wofford in a 71-68 upset of Wofford.
They’re both good teams. It was a fine game in front of one of the livelier PC crowds in recent memory. During timeouts of the teams’ sprinting up and down Gregg Nibert Court, I exchanged quips with Nibert, longtime Presbyterian head coach and former Furman assistant, sitting behind my spot on media row.
Furman, PC and Clinton High School all feel like home. Part of the enjoyment is bumping into folks I haven’t seen in while. I miss Timmons Arena because it’s more intimate than the spacious Well, but it’s worth the wait while the on-campus home is reinvented.

If a fellow wanders about town, he sees just about everyone in Clinton over a six-month span. Just yesterday I bumped into an old high-school acquaintance at Arthur State Bank.
I talked for a while with ex-Paladin Kevin Bryant as the current edition was outdueling Jacksonville on Monday night.
There’s more to sports than just the games.
Bob Richey’s program has added prep standouts Cole Bowser, Abijah Franklin, Collin O’Neal, Owen Ritger, and Alex Wilkins for the 2025-26 season. Wednesday was the opening of the November signing session.

“I am absolutely thrilled with this class,” said Richey, who is in his eighth season as head coach. “All of these young men are of excellent character and value the very things that we have built our program on. They come from schools with both high academic success and athletic success. They are already a close-knit group and match the character of what we want to represent at Furman. I am beyond thrilled with this group, and our Furman fans should be as well.”
Duly noted.

Franklin, a product of Simpsonville, was all-state honors and South Carolina 3A Player of the Year leading head coach Fran Campbell’s Wren Golden Hurricanes to a region championship and upper state runner-up finish as a junior. The 6- 5 guard contributed 23.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game as Wren went 25-6.
Bowser, a 6- 6 wing from Woodbridge, Va., and famed DeMatha Catholic High School, is the brother of Paladin sophomore Cooper Bowser. As a junior, he scored a season-high 31 points to lead the Stags to a victory over The Heights School.

A native of Old Hickory, Tenn., O’Neal made an all-state team and all-middle-region accolades as a junior at Montgomery Bell Academy. The 6- 4 guard averaged 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
The 6-9 Ritger, an Atlanta, Ga., native, is a standout forward at Marist School. He is a first team preseason GHSA 4A all-state choice and was recently ranked as the No. 4 power forward in Georgia by Prep Hoops.

Wilkins is a senior guard at Brooks School in Massachusetts, where he was ranked as the No. 3 player in the 2025 class by New England Recruiting Report. A 6 -5 guard, the Mattapan, Mass., native averaged 18.5 points and 2.4 assists per game as a junior while shooting almost 40 percent from three-point range and over 90 percent at the foul line.
Furman’s women’s basketball team plays its third road game of the season on Thursday when it travels to the other Greenville, in N.C., to take on East Carolina in a 6 p.m. contest at Williams Arena at Minges.

Furman (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday at Georgia, 64-47, after posting wins over Erskine (100-31) and South Carolina State (60-54).
East Carolina split its first two games of the campaign, handily beating Charleston Southern, 81-56, in its home opener and falling at James Madison, 57-51, on Sunday.

The Paladins and Pirates last met on the hardwood nearly 30 years ago (Dec. 19, 1995) in Greenville, N.C., in a game the Pirates won, 71-59, their only win in the three-game series. Furman claimed the other two meetings — both in Greenville, S.C. — with its last triumph, a 65-49 verdict, coming early in the 1993-94 season.
All-SoCon senior forward Kate Johnson paced Furman against Georgia with an 18-point performance in 24 minutes of action. Her 14.0 scoring average leads the Paladins.
The Paladins have two other double-figure scorers in junior forward Sydney Ryan (10.3) and graduate guard Tate Walters (10.0). Walters has climbed to eighth on Furman’s career assists chart (343) and with 899 points is on pace to become the 27th player in Furman history to score 1,000 points. She also ranks ninth in made 3-pointers (140).

A trio of freshmen — guards Raina McGowens (8.3 ppg) and Chantelle Stuart (12 assists) and forward Clare Coyle (6.7 ppg, team leading 9.0 rpg) — have already demonstrated their ability to contribute, as has point guard Bella LaChance (14 assists), a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt.
The Paladins look forward to the return of senior All-SoCon forward Jada Session, who has yet to see action this year following an injury in the preseason. She led Furman in both scoring (12.1) and rebounding (8.1) a year ago.
Furman’s next home game is Tuesday when it plays host to USC Upstate in a 7 p.m. contest at Hayes Gymnasium on the campus of nearby North Greenville University, which will serve as the Paladins’ home court for most of the 2024-25 campaign while Furman’s on-campus facility, Timmons Arena, undergoes renovation.

Men’s golf coach Matt Davidson added Benton Manly and Cameron Reed for the 2025-26 season.
“We couldn’t be more excited to officially welcome Cameron and Benton to the Furman golf family today,” stated Davidson. “They both stood out early in the process for us and have been verbally committed for some time. \ The thing we are most excited about is not only are they both very accomplished junior golfers with great results, but they both have the work ethic and physical tools to continue to grow every year as players. Most importantly, they will also be great additions to the team, and Furman as a whole, as people and students. We can’t wait for them to get to campus next fall.”
Reed, from Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., ranks 51st nationally and sixth in Florida. He won two high school state championships.

Manly ranks No. 1 in Oklahoma for 2025 class and has qualified for two U.S. Juniors.
Ava Hanneman and Olivia Hasselbach have signed to join the Paladins in the 2025-26 season for Jeff Hull’s women’s golf team.
“Both athletes have played other competitive sports, which allows them to bring an intensity and team culture that I like,” Hull stated.
A native of Orono, Minn., Hanneman led her Orono High team to a conference championship as a junior last spring. She finished second at the Minnesota PGA Junior Championship in 2023 and tied for third at the event in 2024. Her mother, the former Katie Weiss, was a member of the women’s golf team at South Carolina and went on to compete as a professional golfer. Her father played football at Minnesota State Moorhead.

Hasselbach, a native of Tampa, Fla., is a four-time team captain at Carrollwood Day who tied for third at the 65th Girls’ Florida Junior Amateur Championship.
The SoCon has an all-conference faculty and staff team, with two representatives each from all 10 member schools.
Dr. Tim Wardle and Rolyn Rollins represent Furman.
Wardle, who serves as associate professor of New Testament and chair of the religion department, has been teaching at Furman since 2012. A former collegiate athlete, he is an avid supporter of Furman student-athletes in their academic and athletic endeavors. Wardle and his wife Cherie have three daughters, including two who are current students at Furman.

After graduating from Furman in 1997, Rollins was a teacher for several years before returning to her alma mater in 2011, where she quickly discovered a passion for working with college students and helping them discern what brings meaning and purpose to their lives. She is program coordinator for student initiatives at Cothran Center. Rollins and husband Matt, who also graduated from Furman in 1997, have three children, including two who currently attend Furman.

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