This week Slappin' Glass welcomes Bob Richey, Head Coach of Furman Men’s Basketball, for a masterclass on sustainable program building, player development, and offensive innovation. Over the past eight seasons, Richey has transformed Furman into one of the most consistently successful programs in college basketball, averaging more than 20 wins per year while competing at the highest levels of the Southern Conference and beyond.
In our conversation, Coach Richey shares how his philosophy was shaped by studying leaders like Rick Byrd, Bob McKillop, Jay Wright, and Lenny Acuff, and how he’s blended those influences into Furman’s unique style of play. We unpack his approach to:
- Sustainable Winning: Why top-down alignment across administration, staff, and players is critical, and how identity-driven decision making simplifies recruiting, culture, and daily choices.
- Player Development: Building year-over-year growth by aligning skill work directly with system play, creating an environment where smart, skilled, and tough players thrive.
- Offensive Innovation: Exploring concepts like “playing without pause,” offensive “bridging” from attack to action, and balancing Princeton-influenced structure with pace, freedom, and decision making.
- Defensive Identity: Richey’s reflections on how Furman can evolve on the defensive side of the ball, including measuring what matters most, systemizing coverages, and balancing rim protection with three-point defense.
- Practice Design: How to maximize learning and decision-making through competitive small-sided games, varying stimuli, and teaching spacing, timing, and re-spacing at a high level.
- The Art of the Dribble Handoff: A deep dive during our Start, Sub, or Sit segment into angles, pace, and counters within DHO actions.
Coach Richey also shares his belief in lifelong learning, the role of reading and studying outside programs, and why continuous innovation is essential in today’s coaching landscape.
This episode is a must-listen for coaches, leaders, and students of the game looking to better understand the connection between culture, identity, and on-court execution.
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