GREENVILLE, S.C. — Furman University head basketball coach Bob Richey has been named a finalist for the 2022-23 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Award, it was announced today by CollegeInsider.com.
Richey, now in his sixth year as head coach of the Paladins and who on Sunday guided Furman (27-7) to a 88-79 win over Chattanooga and Southern Conference Tournament Championship in Asheville, N.C., is among 20 finalists for the award, which will be presented at the 2023 NCAA National Championship in Houston (Apr. 1-3).
On Sunday, CollegeInsider.com named Richey as a finalist for the for the 2022-23 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, with the winner to also be announced in Houston.
Richey has compiled a 138-53 record as head coach at Furman, his .722 winning percentage ranking among the Top 20 nationally among active Division I head coaches. His 2022-23 squad claimed the SoCon regular season championship, and Sunday’s tournament championship — and NCAA Tournament berth — was the first by Furman since 1980. The Paladins’ 27 wins this season are the most in program history.
The Hugh Durham Award, presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball, is named after a coach who built winning programs at three different universities.
In eight seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins’ all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.
He built national programs at Florida State, where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years, and at Georgia, where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons.
Coaches of teams in the following conferences are eligible for the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year Award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, and West Coast.
