Robert McIntire Richey Jr. (born March 22, 1983) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach and current head coach at Furman.

Coaching career

Richey's coaching career began at

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

in 2006, where he served on

Barclay Radebaugh Barclay Radebaugh (born September 14, 1965) is an American college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Assoc ...

's staff until 2011. He joined the Furman staff under Jeff Jackson in 2011, and was retained as an assistant coach under

Niko Medved Niko Medved (born August 10, 1973) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head men's basketball coach at Colorado State University. Prior to becoming head coach at Colorado State, he was head coach at Drake University and Furman. ...

. He served in the role until 2017, when he was elevated to interim head coach after Medved accepted the head coaching position at

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. Richey coached the Paladins in their 2017 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament semifinal matchup, in which they fell to St. Peters. Following the season, the interim tag was lifted and Richey became the 22nd head coach in Furman history. As a coach, Richey emphasizes the retainment and development of his players, rather than the acquisition of talent. His coaching success has resulted in head coaching interviews with prominent NCAA programs, including with the University of South Carolina following the 2021 season.

2018–19 season

In his second season at the helm, Richey led the Paladins to wins over two teams that had reached the Final Four of the 2018 NCAA tournament ( Loyola and defending national champion Villanova) and Furman's first-ever 6-0 record. After a 10-0 start, Furman became ranked in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

for the first time in school history and went on to be ranked for three consecutive weeks. Richey and Furman won their first 12 games and finished with what was then a school-record 25 wins. The Paladins ranked as high as 23rd in the AP poll and participated in the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

, to which they had not been invited since 1991.

2022–2023 season

After falling in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

championship game the year before, Richey and the Paladins won the 2023 Southern Conference title and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1980. They went on to shock 14th-ranked

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

with a last-second steal and three-point shot in the Paladins' second-ever NCAA tournament win, securing a school-record 28 wins and national recognition for Furman.

Head coaching record

accepted Drake position; Richey coached CIT semifinal game.

Personal life

Richey is a Christian. He is married to Jessica Richey, with whom he has three children.

References

1983 births Living people American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from South Carolina Charleston Southern Buccaneers men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Furman Paladins men's basketball coaches North Greenville University alumni People from Florence, South Carolina {{US-basketball-coach-stub