SoCon Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

10. Mike Bothwell

Bothwell is a 6’3 combo guard who was a skilled and talented backcourt presence across half a decade at Furman. While a reserve initially, he grew into a very important weapon for the Paladins’ success, taking advantage of his bonus year from the pandemic. His name was known beyond the SoCon by the end of that career.

He landed at Furman in 2018 and was mostly a reserve as an underclassman, though he would average 10.9 points a game as a sophomore. He helped the Paladins to a Top 3 finish in the SoCon in each of his first four seasons and was averaging greater than 15 points a game as a junior and a senior. His final year, however, was pretty special. Not only would he average 17.7 points per game, but he’d lead Furman to a regular season title and conference title, then scoring 11 points in their first-round upset of Virginia in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Bothwell was named All-SoCon in each of his last three seasons, earning the First Team honor at last in that final season. He was a very important part of Furman’s success these last few seasons and was actually the SoCon’s leading scorer in 2023 as well. The Paladins won 116 games across these last five years that Bothwell was in the program, and his individual numbers certainly prove that he was playing a vital role as well.