Tag: Furman

Maeve Thornton signs with Lady Vols

Tennessee announces the signing of Maeve Thornton.

Tennessee women’s tennis announced the signing of transfer Maeve Thornton.

Thornton is a graduate of Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, and will have three years of eligibility remaining with the Lady Vols. She played at Furman during the 2023-24 season.

Thornton went 9-11 in singles competition and served as the No. 2 player for Furman. She recorded 11 wins in doubles completion last season.

The Knoxville native is the sixth signee officially announced for the Lady Vols’ 2024 recruiting class, joining Vanesa Suarez, Natalia Perez, Conley Raidt, Brooklyn Schafer and Saray Yli-Piipari.

Tennessee advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in 2024 for the first time in 22 years.

Saints invite Furman star RB Dominic Roberto to rookie minicamp

The New Orleans Saints invited Furman running back Dominic Roberto to their upcoming rookie minicamp:

The New Orleans Saints invited Furman running back Dominic Roberto to their upcoming rookie minicamp, he announced on Twitter. He’ll have a great opportunity to compete with other free agents and make his case for a spot on the team’s 90-man roster ahead of training camp.

Roberto was productive in his five-year career at Furman, recording 466 carries for 2,514 rushing yards with 28 touchdowns and just one fumble. He also blocked often in pass protection but wasn’t asked to catch many passes. It’s possible the Saints envision Roberto as a fullback. He weighed in at 5-foot-10.5 and 235 pounds at this pro day but didn’t put up very impressive testing numbers.

We’ll see if he can hang with other future pros when the Saints bring a couple dozen players in to minicamp. Practices are scheduled for May 10-12.

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Lady Vols sweep Furman, Chattanooga to open tennis season

Tennessee opens spring tennis season with two wins.

No. 18 Tennessee (2-0) opened its spring season with a pair of victories Sunday at Goodfriend Tennis Center.

The Lady Vols defeated Furman, 7-0, and Chattanooga, 7-0.

Tennessee-Furman results:

Doubles

1. Alana Wolfberg/Esther Adeshina (TENN) def. Maeve Thornton/Jess Dawson (FUR) 6-1
2. Sofia Cabezas/Elza Tomase (TENN) def. Sara Snyder/Grace Thomas (FUR) 6-4
3. Catherine Aulia/Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) vs. Ellie Schulson/Macy Hitchcock (FUR) 5-5, unfinished

Order of finish:1,2,3

Singles

1. #92 Sofia Cabezas (TENN) def. Sara Snyder (FUR) 6-1, 6-1
2. #91 Alana Wolfberg (TENN) def. Maeve Thornton (FUR) 6-0, 7-6 (7-5)
3. Catherine Aulia (TENN) def. Ellie Schulson (FUR) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
4. #100 Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. Grace Thomas (FUR) 6-2, 6-4
5. Esther Adeshina (TENN) def. Macy Hitchcock (FUR) 6-0, 7-5
6. Lauren Anzalotta (TENN) def. Jess Dawson (FUR) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 1,5,4,2,6,3

Tennessee-Chattanooga results:

Doubles

1. Sofia Cabezas/Elza Tomase (TENN) def. Caroline Gibbens/Emma Peeler (UTC) 6-4
2. Esther Adeshina/Catherine Aulia (TENN) vs. Rozalie Dohnalova/Alice Hall (UTC) 5-4, unfinished
3. Eleonora Molinaro/Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Margaret Manolache/Emma Pedretti (UTC) 6-2

Order of finish: 3,1,2

Singles

1. #92 Sofia Cabezas (TENN) def. Rozalie Dohnalova (UTC) 6-2, 6-1
2. Catherine Aulia (TENN) def. Caroline Gibbens (UTC) 6-2, 6-2
3. #115 Elza Tomase (TENN) def. Emma Peeler (UTC) 7-5, 6-1
4. #100 Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. Alice Hall (UTC) 6-2, 6-1
5. Esther Adeshina (TENN) def. Margaret Manolache (UTC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Emma Pedretti (UTC) 6-3, 6-1

Order of finish: 5,1,6,4,3,2

Vols defeat Furman to open spring tennis season

Tennessee sweeps Furman to open 2024 tennis season.

No. 6 Tennessee (1-0) defeated Furman (0-1), 7-0, Friday at Goodfriend Tennis Center to open its 2024 spring season.

Chris Li clinched the match against Furman in his first dual match for Tennessee.

He was one of four Tennessee newcomers to record wins for the Vols, joining Younes Lalami, Filip Pieczonka and Filip Apltauer.

Tennessee-Furman results:

Doubles

1. #34 Shunsuke Mitsui/Filip Pieczonka (UT) def. Thomas Kennedy/Elijah Portizky (FU) 6-4
2. Angel Diaz/Chris Li (UT) vs. Ben Cahill/Emil Westling (FU) 5-4, unfinished
3. Younes Lalami/Johannus Monday (UT) def. Cole Burnam/Leonardo Dal Boni (FU) 6-1

Order of finish: (3,1)

Singles

1. #20 Johannus Monday (UT) def. Elijah Portizky (FU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Younes Lalami (UT) def. Thomas Kennedy (FU) 7-6(6), 6-4
3. #33 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Leonardo Dal Boni (FU) 7-5, 6-2
4. Chris Li (UT) def. Emil Westling (FU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Filip Pieczonka (UT) def. John Rado (FU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Filip Apltauer (UT) def. Walker Allen (FU) 6-3, 6-0

Order of finish: (5,6,4,1,3,2)

Mark’s status for Furman on Monday is cloudy, per Musselman

Tramon Mark would like to be back in time for Monday’s game with Furman, but he may wait until next Saturday against Oklahoma.

Arkansas already has a win without Tramon Mark under its belt.

It may have to get another on Monday night without him when Furman comes to town for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Eric Musselman updated the media on Saturday ahead of the game and said that Mark playing is ‘up in the air.’

Furman is the team that knocked Virginia out of the NCAA Tournament last season as a 13 seed.

The Paladins (4-4) lost to Princeton by a point on Saturday, the same Princeton team that advanced to last year’s Sweet 16.

Their wins have been over North Greenville, Belmont, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina State, while they have lost to Liberty, Wyoming, UAB and Princeton.

Arkansas adds Furman to nonconference basketball schedule

Furman should be the final piece of the nonconference puzzle for 2023-24, as Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks look to make their fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16.

The nonconference schedule for Eric Musselman’s fifth Razorback unit is essentially complete.

Arkansas will host Furman at Bud Walton Arena on Monday, Dec. 4, the game after hosting the Duke Blue Devils.

Furman, of course, busted millions of brackets back in March when the 13th seeded Paladins knocked off perennial power Virginia in the first round at the buzzer.

They will return a healthy amount of players from last year’s team, which won the SOCon Tournament title and 28 games overall.

With that game scheduled, all the slots should be filled as it has been custom for the Razorbacks to play 13 non-conference games to go along with a 18-game SEC slate.

Now all that remains is the times and dates for the SEC games, which were already announced earlier in the summer.

Catching up with the Boston Celtics’ 2023 NBA draft workouts

Boston is likely looking for players who’d be able to help right away, or a player with some upside to stash abroad or as a two way player.

As the 2023 NBA draft draws ever closer, the Boston Celtics have kept themselves very busy working out prospective targets for the top of the 2023 draft’s second round, with a pick owed them from either the Portland Trail Blazers (35th overall) or the Houston Rockets (33rd overall), pending the outcome of complicated protections which will be determined the night of the draft lottery.

The Celtics are looking for players who would be able to help a little depth-wise right away, or perhaps a player with some upside to stash abroad or as a two way player with the extra slot having been added in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.

Let’s take a look at the prospects we know the team has worked out (thanks to Rookie Wire’s Cody Taylor) that we have not already covered on the Celtics Wire (see our previous articles on wing Landers Nolley II, big man Oscar Tshiebwe, and center Isaiah Miranda).

Jalen Slawson in OKC for Thunder pre-draft visit

Jalen Slawson is currently being projected as a possible second-round pick.

The 2023 NBA draft combined is scheduled to take place soon from May 15 to May 21, which means the draft season is right around the corner.

It looks like the Oklahoma City Thunder are underway with draft evaluations as they have begun conducting pre-draft visits.

Furman forward Jalen Slawson worked out for the Thunder on Wednesday, per his school. The 23-year-old senior averaged 15.6 points on 55.6% shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 36 games last season. He also shot 39.4% from 3 on 2.9 attempts.

The 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward spent five seasons with Furman. He is currently projected as a possible second-round pick. The Thunder currently owns two second-round draft picks in the 2023 NBA draft.

The 2023 NBA draft is scheduled to happen on Thursday, June 22.

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Packers host Furman WR Ryan Miller on official pre-draft visit

The Green Bay Packers hosted Furman wide receiver Ryan Miller on an official top-30 visit ahead of the 2023 NFL draft.

The Green Bay Packers hosted Furman wide receiver Ryan Miller on an official top-30 visit ahead of the 2023 NFL draft, according to Bill Huber of SI.com.

Miller (6-1, 210) caught 151 passes for 2,146 yards and a school-record 28 touchdowns over 53 games and five seasons at Furman. He set career highs for catches (72), receiving yards (762) and receiving touchdowns (12) and set the school record for receiving touchdowns in a season in 2022.

Miller, a three-time All-American in the FCS, is converting from tight end to receiver.

Against fifth-ranked Clemson in 2022, Miller caught 13 passes for 95 yards and a score. He caught a touchdown pass in 10 of his 13 games last season.

At Furman’s pro day, Miller ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds, hit 32″ in the vertical leap, covered 10-2 in the broad jump and finished the three-cone in 6.84 seconds and the short shuttle in 4.27 seconds. His Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is 6.97 out of 10.0.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranks Miller as the No. 53 overall receiver in the draft class and a likely priority free agent. The visit in Green Bay could be the team’s way of pitching Miller to sign with the Packers if he goes undrafted.

Miller turned 23 in February.

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Furman hero JP Pegues: I’ve watched the game-winning clip ‘at least 50 times’

After 24 hours, Pegues reflected on his game-winning shot to send Furman to its first NCAA Tournament win since 1974.

ORLANDO, Fla. — When JP Pegues sent No. 14 seed Furman to its upset win over No. 4 Virginia on Thursday, it was a moment the sophomore had experienced before and was more than prepared for.

It was March 2020 when Pegues hit a game-winning 3-pointer to send Hillsboro High (Nashville, Tennessee) to the Class AAA state tournament as a junior. The shot was something that even drew Furman head coach Bob Richey to Pegues.

“That’s why we recruited him so hard,” Richey said. “We watched his clutch clips, and I watched him do something very similar (to his shot on Thursday) in a huge state playoff game. When I saw the ball go up, I knew it was going in.”

So did Pegues.

With the Paladins’ season on the line on Thursday, the ball found Pegues in a wild scramble. Without hesitation, Pegues promptly let the ball go and drained the 3-pointer to send Furman to its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1974.

“It was just a familiar situation,” Pegues said. “I remember that same feeling in high school when I knew the game was on the line and a play had to be made. I just remember me craving, wanting that. Knowing that the season is on the line, how much of a competitor I am and how much I want to win. I just remember in high school, specifically, telling my coach (Rodney Thweatt): ‘Coach, I got this one. I got us.’ That was kind of the same mindset that I had when Garrett (Hien) got that steal yesterday and I knew he was looking for me. As soon as I caught it, I just had the full belief that the shot was going in.”

Pegues and Furman have had about 24 hours to reflect on the moment. The coaching staff and players have heard from friends, family members and Furman alumni since pulling off the upset win. Some former players were even in attendance cheering them on at Amway Center.

While the team now turns its attention to fifth-seeded San Diego State on Saturday (12:10 p.m. EDT, CBS), Pegues can’t help reflecting on that moment and the history he helped make.

“(I’ve watched it) numerous times, like back to back,” Pegues said. “It has been at least 50 times I’ve watched that specific clip. I was just so numb to the fact at first. I couldn’t believe it.”

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