NCAA Basketball: 10 schools looking for new face of program for 2020-21

EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - MARCH 08: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans kisses the center court logo at the Breslin Center after leaving the floor in his final home game on March 08, 2020 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 80-69. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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LEXINGTON, VA – JANUARY 10: Jordan Lyons #23 of the Furman Paladins (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Furman Paladins – Jordan Lyons

Over the last two seasons, the Southern Conference has been one best mid-major conferences in the country thanks to the four of the strongest mid-major teams in the sport, one of those is the Furman Paladins. Over the last four seasons, three of them under current head coach Bob Richey, Furman has averaged over 24 wins per season, which happened to coincide with the arrival of diminutive guard Jordan Lyons on campus.

In his college career, Lyons had a meteoric rise to stardom in the SoCon. As a freshman, he averaged six points per game, by the time he was a junior he was averaging over 16 per game while improving his three-point and field goal percentages each season. Lyons arrived on the national landscape when he scored 54 points including 15 three-pointers in a game his junior season. Lyons is gone, but Richey may have another guard ready to step in.

Junior Mike Bothwell took a big jump in his sophomore season averaging 11 points per game after just 3.5 as a freshman. Bothwell improved every shooting percentage and shot nearly 50% from the field last season and with an improving long-distant shot, Bothwell may be the next Paladin guard that opponents will have to look to shut down.

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