The fans from Greenville sure are delighted by the offensive explosion Furman unleashed on the conference.  And the country for that matter.  Furman were one of only a handful of teams to average more than 90 points a game in Division One.  They could score almost at will with their great assortment of players.  They scored over 100 eight times and had the highest scoring duo in the country.  It seems everyone wanted a piece of Furman and their high-scoring studs as they knew the boys from Greenville were not exactly known for defense.  It didn’t hurt that Furman was the toast of TV land with their own regional contract for the Carolinas and more than their fair share of national games either on cable or even sometimes on free TV.  Those six games included five on the road (the weird schedule was because Memorial Auditorium had scheduled a bunch of southern rock concerts for October and November including home town boys the Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd but sadly we all know what happened after that) but Furman really did have a gun and would travel and were not afraid to shoot it.  Regional teams like Richmond crawled into the ‘Brown Box’ and found it almost turned into their roach motel.  This game played in front of a sold out (7500 SRO) Memorial Coliseum (deemed the Brown Box for obvious reasons) went to double overtime (as did the Gamecocks affair) with both teams shooting the lights but Johnny Newman nailing the last three for the team from Virginia to pull out the 109 to 106 win.  

Frank Selvy and Darrell Floyd are unbelievable scoring machines.  Selvy finished in the top five in the country in scoring and may be as unstoppable as they come.   A great shooter who can also go inside, the ‘Corbin Comet’ is the king of South Carolina basketball.  The fans love him.  The media adores him.  He is a legend and will only get better.  Selvy actually had offers to play at Kentucky with Adolph Rupp (the guy in the Brown Suit thought he was too small and he was only 6’0 coming out of high school) and besides he had already committed to Furman and would not go back on his commitment.  A volume shooter who loves to hoist it up from just about anywhere but is best suited for the mid-range game where he can isolate on the defender and take him to the hole or pull up for a solid mid-range jumper.  He goes to about 18 feet but is trying to take his game outside the arc which is difficult for some of these older guys who did not grow up with the painted line on the court.  He can handle the ball well for a wing and is a good passer but that is not his forte.  This kid is a legend because he puts the ball in hoop as many times as he can in each game.  Period!  On the court or at the line it does not matter to Frank.  He is one of a kind and the fans know they have seen something special.  Rupp knows he let one of his own get away.  A six foot three wing, Selvy is one of the best players to ever play college basketball and should do well at the next level.  Selvy earned MVP of the Southern Conference and honorable mention All-American accolades.  And almost assuredly will again in his final year in Greenville. 

Floyd gets overshadowed by Selvy but he can also flat score.  Floyd came from small town Thomasville North Carolina but was nowhere nearly as highly recruited as his famous sidekick on the wings.  He actually went to a JC for two years so last year was his first in Greenville.  He is a wing who can shoot or get to the hoop.  He has good range and will also run the floor.  He is a little small at six one and not athletic enough to guard other wings but man can he score.  He is without question one of the best second best offensive players on a small conference team in the country.  His matchups with some of the best offensive players in the south are legendary and he and Selvy will never have to buy a beer again in Greenville that is for sure.   

Furman has a slew of solid big men as well in a terrific junior class.  Clyde Mayes and Jonathan Moore combine to give this team as much talent as anyone in this conference underneath.  They also love playing together and seem to feed off each other well.  Mayes is more of a physical player and has a nasty reputation as a guy who knows how to get the job done down low.  At a solid six foot eight and 225 pounds Mayes flat dominates the boards and might be the most intimidating player in the Southern Conference.  He had some classic throwdowns with Mike Maloy of Davidson and has a bright future as the main man in his hometown of Greenville.  He has got the skill set to carry this team next year.  Both can score and would have done more but they had other options on this team. Mayes seems to be content being the biggest badass south of Providence and their Bad News Barnes. He almost has the same kind of skills.  Almost! 

Moore also has some size (six eight and a sleek 210) who can hang and is tough but nowhere near as physical as Mayes. Moore is not just a one trick low post banger as he can run the court and is a terrific passer for a big man.  He plays great under pressure and will be a go to guy next year.  He is a stud.  This Charleston kid will team with his buddy this year to continue to wreak havoc in the key in the Southern Conference but next year they will be counted on to carry a much heavier load on the offensive end.  I guarantee you these four shoulders are more than broad enough. 

Point Guard was ‘the’ problem for Furman.  Sophomore Mel Daniel started most of the year but was not the type of distributor Coach Alley has in mind.  He was effective as a scorer but the boys from Greenville did not need anymore scorers.  It is not like Daniel cannot pass, he can but likes to get his own shot as well.  And Selvy and Floyd are both isolation types who like to take guys off the dribble and like the ball in their hands often as well.  This team runs the old-fashioned figure eight at times but in this modern basketball you are either an ISO team or a ball movement team and Furman preferred the ISO.  Neither Floyd or Selvy put up huge assist numbers for as much as they handled the ball to show you how this affects the results on the team and neither one is a stalwart defensively. Daniel usually ended up at six two guarding the quickest guard on the other team and did not mind this challenge at all.  Mel is a workout freak that truly understands all facets of the game and had to be content being the defensive stopper and set up guy to his star teammates and was okay with that.  For Now!  

Furman has a solid assortment of bench players who compliment the starters well.  Wings Dick Esselick and Jerry Smith can score but did not play much behind Floyd and Selvy.  This duo split the spot next to Selvy for two years before Floyd arrived.  Both are 6’2 and like Floyd undersized for wing but also like him they can score.  Just not quite at the same rate.  Smith comes from the same Kentucky town as Selvy and plays a similar style as all of these guys do.  They could use an athletic wing ala Thompson up in Raleigh but the SoCon is not the ACC so this team does just fine in this league with their sharp shooters.  Alley used many bodies up front to keep Moore and Mayes fresh.  Senior Nield Gordon was the incumbent starter and kept that job for about two games before the dynamic duo jumped in.  Gordon has had a stellar career in Greenville and has some size (6’5) but is kind of outdated for modern basketball though you got to love that matinee idol name (and the looks to match). Sophomore George Singleton is a shot blocker and Junior Fessor Leonard is a true seven footer who were effective in their roles for Furman.  Singleton is from the Palmetto State and goes a strong six eight with quick leapers and a knack for trapping the ball against the backboard.  He can score some and board but is nowhere near the offensive player Mayes and Moore are.  ‘Bull’ as he is called which fits him fine can also block a shot but does not have that natural instinct Singleton does.  Leonard relies on the greatest gift God can give a basketball player.  Size!  This Columbus Georgia native was heavily recruited but chose Furman and had two solid years here but fell off a bit this year due to some minor injuries and not getting the minutes he wanted.  Bull fits his nickname and he and Mayes give Furman a heck of an intimidating presence when they are on the court together which is not as often as Leonard would have liked.  He believes he can be a star and in reality has that kind of game if he was a little more motivated or consistent.  He and Singleton took turns rotating in at center but neither one got as many minutes as they would have liked with the logjam of big men and the scarcity at point guard. Alley attempted lineups with Selvy at point but the defense which was never good really suffered.  If Furman would have been half as good defensively as they were offensively they would have been in a National Tournament.  Alley settled for having his team try to outscore everyone.  A little more attention to the defensive end by perhaps another coach might have made this team tough to beat.  But they were an awful fun team to watch and South Carolina loved them. 

Alley did have others who showed promise for next season and will push for more minutes but there is not many shots left on this team. Defensive guys like JC transfer Gerald Glur and Joe ‘Lunch Pail’ Brunson have a chance but they are battling for the same minutes up front. The 6’5 senior Gerald Glur was a big-time producer on the boards before Mayes and Moore came to town and when Brunson showed up last year for a JC he lost even more time. This 6’7 240 blue collar Brunson came on strong in his first year in Greenville and can muscle with anyone including Mayes.  His board work is inspirational.  Fellow senior Steve (Go Away Little Girl) Lawrence got pushed aside last year with all of this beef down low as he only goes 6’6 and his days in Greenville might be over.  Junior Russ Hunt is a 6’8 kid who can post up or play wing and had a heck a first year here but slid way down the totem pole last year to the point he ended up on the JV.  Another Hunt, sophomore wing Mike, was the star on that team and has the size (6’5) we talked about on the wing but he is not beating out those seniors any time in the near future or the Little Brown Box might get tore down.  Dick Wright is a senior wing who has never got a fair shot but led the JV in scoring twice before riding the pine as a junior. 

Furman is a great offensive team.  As good as anyone in the South.  They have a pair of senior wings who were unstoppable.  Still, Furman did not reach their goal of making a postseason tournament.  They were close but no cigar in this crazy offensive year.  Will anyone really remember how good this team could have been last year?  Perhaps not but the fans from South Carolina will never forget the dynamic duo who put South Carolina basketball on the map.  And filled up the Little Brown Box.  Now it is time for Coach Alley to transition this team from a high scoring, no defense unit into a team that can play both ends and compete for a post season berth.  The talent is there and these basketball studs from Greenville deserve to shine under the Crystal Ball of that Big Dance at least once.