Furman Basketball: 2022-23 season preview for the Paladins

By Elijah Campbell | Nov 3, 2022

CHAPEL HILL, NC - DECEMBER 14: Jalen Slawson #20 of the Furman Paladins is defended by Dawson Garcia #13 of the North Carolina Tar Heels at Dean E. Smith Center on December 14, 2021 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina won 74-61. (Photo by Peyton Williams/UNC/Getty Images) /

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Furman Basketball head coach Bob Richey Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

2022-23 schedule outlook

Furman starts out the season, like many schools at this level, against a Non-D1 opponent in North Greenville on November 7th. They have two other games against a non-D1 opponent (Tusculum on November 25th and Anderson on December 19th).

The Paladins’ first big test comes against Belmont at home on Friday, November 11th. Last season, both teams played in a thrilling matchup in Nashville that saw the Bruins win in overtime 95-89. Belmont suffered a slew of losses to their roster but is always a well-coached group.

Furman will then turn around to play the first round of the Shriner’s Children’s Charleston Classic against Big Ten foe Penn State, a team that surprised some in the Big Ten last season. They will then take on the winner or loser of the Virginia Tech-Old Dominion match-up. This provides a potential back-to-back against power five opponents and with two wins, could put them on the radar for the rest of the college basketball world moving forward.

Furman ends the month with a road trip to Boone, N.C. to take on second-place Sun Belt regular season finisher Appalachian State. The Paladins took last season’s contest by a score of 73-65.

In December, they will face Big South foe, Winthrop, at home before traveling to Raleigh for arguably their toughest non-conference opponent in N.C. State. The Paladins’ final non-conference test will be a “neutral” site game in Greenville against Stephen F. Austin.

In SOCON play, they will take on every team in the conference twice. The most notable of which will be their rematches against Chattanooga and in my opinion, their toughest challenger to the SOCON throne, Samford. The Paladins first play the Mocs on Wednesday, January 18th in Chattanooga and again on February 1st in Greenville. Their bouts against Samford, a team that beat them once and then gave them all they could handle in the SOCON Semifinals, will be at home on January 25th and on the road in the regular season finale on February 25th.