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

By Joey Loose | Aug 25, 2023

Mar 23, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Wofford Terriers guard Fletcher Magee (3) leads his team in a huddle before their game against the Kentucky Wildcatsin the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /

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SoCon Basketball Furman Paladins guard Devin Sibley Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

8. Devin Sibley

A 6’2 guard from Knoxville, Sibley is another fantastic young athlete who found his home at Furman, playing for the Paladins between 2014 and 2018. Though the Paladins struggled early in his career, he helped lead quite the turnaround for the program and continued to star after a coaching change before his senior season.

Already a double-digit scorer as a freshman, he started a majority of the 134 games he played in Furman’s backcourt and helped with that turnaround in his sophomore season. During an impressive junior season, he averaged 17.7 points per game and made 45% of his 3-pointers, all while leading the Paladins to a SoCon regular season crown. He’d lead the program twice to the CIT and was part of two 23-win clubs in his final two seasons.

Sibley was the league’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman and Player of the Year for that great junior season. He was First Team All-SoCon in those last two seasons, emerging as a potent shooter and defensive rebounder for the Paladins. An important backcourt player in the SoCon, Sibley helped engineer that success for the program and certainly made his mark while at Furman. It’s a shame that the Paladins didn’t quite get over the hump and make the Big Dance; that wouldn’t come for a few more years.