Athletics director Jason Donnelly released four Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents on future (2026-29) Paladin schedules.

Furman will play Tennessee on Sept. 5, 2026, South Carolina on Sept. 4, 2027, Florida on Sept. 2, 2028 and Clemson on Nov. 17, 2029. 

The clash with Tennessee, a 2024 College Football Playoff participant, represents a rescheduled 2020 contest canceled due to the Covid pandemic. It will mark only the third meeting between the two schools, the two previous clashes coming in 1941 and ‘42.

Furman and South Carolina, a consensus Top- 20-ranked program last seaon, first battled in football in 1892 and have met 50 times over the years, most recently in 2023.

 Florida, coached by Furman Hall of Fame quarterback Billy Napier ‘03, last faced off against the Paladins in 2011 in a contest the Gators won, 54-32.

 Furman’s series with Clemson, another 2024 College Football Playoff participant and three-time national champion, began in 1896 and currently spans 58 games, the most recent coming in 2022. The Paladins and Tigers are also scheduled to play on Nov. 22 of this year.

 The Paladins, whose 15 Southern Conference championships are the most of any school in league history, kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against William & Mary.

Furman is coached by Clay Hendrix ‘86, entering his ninth season at the helm of the Paladin program.

No. 28 Furman held off No. 42 Rice, 4-2, Sunday at Mickel Tennis Center on the campus of Furman University. 

With the victory, the Paladins (12-2, 2-0 SoCon) extend their women’s tennis winning streak to seven matches, while Rice falls to 12-5.

Furman won two out of three doubles matches to score the opening point.  The Owls’ Saara Orav and Francesca Maguina led off the action with a 6-1 advantage over senior Jess Dawson and sophomore Macy Hitchcock at flight two, then Paladin seniors Ellie Schulson and Sara Snyder defeated Darya Schwartzman and Fernanda Martinez, 6-2, at flight one to even the slate.  In the decisive number three contest, seniors Alexa Griffith and Marissa Pennings beat Anushka Ashar and Divna Ratkovic, 6-3, for the point.

Dawson scored a quick 6-0, 6-2 victory over Maguina at flight three singles to give Furman a 2-0 lead, but the Owls’ Allison Zipoli entered the lineup at flight six singles, where she topped senior Grace Thomas, 6-3, 6-0, to put Rice on the board. Schulson came from behind for a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Martinez to push the Paladin margin to 3-1, before Nithesa Selvaraj downed Hitchcock, 6-3, 6-4, at number four to cut the deficit to 3-2.  Snyder rebounded to clinch the match, defeating Schwartzman, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the top-seeded match. 

The flight two match was unfinished.  Ratkovic won set one, 6-1, but Pennings came back for a 6-4 victory in the second set.  The third set was tied at 1-apiece when the match ended. 

The Paladins continue their homestand when they face Brown on Monday at 3 p.m.

Freshman Rachel Hawkins drove in a pair of runs and Emme Buzhardt picked up her second save of the season as Furman topped Wofford, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series Sunday afternoon at Hope Field on the Wofford campus.

 With Furman clinging to a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning and two runners on base, Buzhardt came out of the bullpen to retire Abbi Campbell and end the Wofford threat. The senior righthander retired six of the final eight batters she faced across the sixth and seventh innings to earn her second save of the year and secure Furman’s first Southern Conference win.

A sacrifice fly from Hawkins and RBI double from Wofford’s Hope Ingle opened the scoring in the first before the Paladins grabbed the lead for good in the top of the third inning when Kate Stoltzfus scored on Hawkins’ RBI single. The Paladins added to their advantage in the fourth. A pair of walks and a Caitlin Goldwait single loaded the bases for Sylvia Burroughs, who lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to drive in Katie Peeler.

 Wofford answered by taking advantage of a two-out error by the Paladins in the bottom of the fourth, but Furman responded in the top of the fifth with help from Hawkins once again. The Paladin third baseman opened the frame with a single and advanced to second on a Madison Petty sacrifice. Taylor Miller followed with a chopper to second base that was misplayed, allowing Hawkins to score and extend the lead to 4-2.

 Starter Angelina Ricciardi (5-4) retired two of the first three batters in the bottom of the fifth prior to Rivers Sampson’s RBI double. She walked the next batter before Buzhardt entered to squelch the rally.

Hawkins went 2/2 with a base on balls to lead the Furman offense, while Goldwait registered three hits.

 Natalya Salo (3-3) took the loss for Wofford, allowing three runs to the Paladins on three hits over four innings in the circle. She walked three batters and recorded seven strikeouts. Brianna Stanley and Sampson picked up two hits each for the Terriers (18-11, 2-1 SoCon).

Wofford rallied for a 6-5 walk-off win in the 10^th inning of game one and Abby Greenwood fanned seven en route to a 5-3 victory in game two as the Terriers swept Furman on the opening day of Southern Conference play Saturday afternoon.

The Paladins (11-21, 1-2 SoCon) continue their eight-game road trip with a three-game series at East Tennessee State next weekend in Johnson City.

Sofija Buzelis’ goal with 22 seconds remaining lifted the Furman lacrosse team past the Queens Royals, 13-12, in the Paladins’ non-conference finale Saturday afternoon at Paladin Stadium.
Furman heads into its Big South opener next Wednesday with a 6-2 overall record. With the loss, Queens (N.C.) drops to 3-7 on the season.
The Paladins trailed 12-9 with 5:55 remaining in the contest when Karsyn Sadler gave the Royals a three-goal advantage with her first of the contest. Furman would then hold Queens (N.C.) without a goal for the rest of the game while ending on a 4-0 run. Lily Toole and Paige Harman cut the Paladins’ deficit to 12-11 before Buzelis tied the score at 12-12 with 2:17 left off Harman’s assist.
Buzelis and Harman teamed up for the game-winner with 22 seconds remaining to give Furman its best start through eight games in program history.
Toole and Buzelis scored the game’s opening two goals before the Royals answered with five straight. Queens outscored the Paladins 6-1 in the second quarter to hold an 8-3 lead at halftime.

Furman’s Clark Akers (-7) fired an opening round 65 to lead the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate by two strokes Sunday at the par-72, 7,220-yard Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw.

Akers, a junior from Nashville, Tenn., remained in second place after a 70 in round two. As a team, the Paladins rose to second place when three players scored under-par rounds.

No. 39 Purdue (-22) holds a six shot lead over Furman, which is tied for second with co-host College of Charleston (-16).  No. 18 South Carolina (-12), which is also co-hosting the tournament, is in fourth place, followed by Missouri (-10) in fifth place.  

Senior Nicole Matysik won the 1,500 meters to lead the Furman outdoor track and field teams Friday at the Charlotte 49er Classic at the Irwin Belk Track and Field Center.

Matysik, who led a group of five Paladins in the top 11, posted a time of 4:28.01 to take gold.

On the men’s side, junior Colton Kempney took second place with a time of 9:33.71 in the 3,000 Steeplechase, and sophomore Owen Shifflett finished second in the 5,000 invitational with a time of 14:24.03. Furman placed four men among the top 11 in the event.

Alabama Birmingham reeled off four singles wins on Saturday afternoon to record a 4-3 victory over the Furman men’s tennis team in non-conference action at Mickel Tennis Center.
Furman drops to 5-11 overall while UAB improves to 7-11 on the season.
The Paladins clinched the doubles point for the second straight match following victories at No. 1 and No. 3. Theophile Joly and Matt Kandel won for the second consecutive contest when they defeated Jake Anthony and Juan Pablo Valdez, 7-5, and Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon followed to clinch the point for Furman with a 7-5 triumph, their fourth victory of the year, at the top spot over Noah Malige and Ondrej Valek.
Playing at No. 2, Nicolas Dispas and Nico Snyder were tied 5-5 versus Conor Flynn and Georgios Nouchakis when the Paladins picked up the point.

The Paladins suffered a 5-2 setback to Jacksonville (Ala.) Friday afternoon.
The Paladins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over the Gamecocks after winning at No. 1 and No. 3 to clinch the doubles point. Jacksonville State struck first when David Krasner and Marko Milosavljevic defeated Nicolas Dispas and Nico Snyder, 6-1, in the No. 2 match. Furman rallied back starting at No. 3 when Theophile Joly and Matt Kandel topped Alin Fatu and Lucius Soller, 7-5, for their first win of the season. Cole Burnam and Connor Laymon captured the point for the Paladins when they won for the third time this year in a tiebreaker at No. 1 over Logan Haga and Timo De Visser, 7-6(7).
Jacksonville State secured the victory after winning five consecutive singles matches at Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

The latest threat to everyone’s well-being is microplastics. Our body absorbs them from drinking from plastic bottles, sucking on plastic straws and eating from plastic plates.

There is nothing we can do about it. We should’ve never stopped drinking Cokes from glass bottles and saving them for the deposit. We should’ve washed our dishes in the sinks and hung our clothes on a line in the backyard.

I haven’t seen a clothesline in a while.

That reminds me. I’ve got to go to the laundromat. My dryer’s broke down. I’m not going to be buying a new one any time soon. I’m satisfied a repairman would tell me it’d cost less to get a new one. He’d probably have one to sell me.

Don’t mind me. I get pessimistic now and then.

Buy my books. A lot of them are on Amazon. Most of them are fiction. This website satisfies my need for real life.

Crazy of Natural Causes is about a coach who is nearly killed in an automobile accident, gets religion and finds out there’s not much religion in those who preach it for money. Forgive Us Our Trespasses is a tale of small-town corruption.