Tom House, Pat Estepp headed to NCAA tournament with Southern Conference champion Furman

Tom House, a 2022 Centerville High School graduate, and former Cedarville University coach Pat Estepp earned a NCAA tournament berth with Furman University on Monday.

House, a 6-foot-7 senior guard, scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting in No. 6 seed Furman’s 76-61 victory against No. 1 seed East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference championship game in Asheville, N.C.

Like House, Estepp, an assistant coach on Bob Richey’s staff, is in his second season at Furman. He spent 24 seasons at Cedarville, the last 16 as a head coach.

Furman won the championship after losing 92-85 to Wofford in the Southern Conference championship game last season.

Furman earned its eighth NCAA tournament berth and first since 2023. It will learn its opponent and destination on Sunday when the bracket is announced. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi predicts Furman will receive a No. 16 seed and play in Dayton in the First Four.

House was a junior at Centerville and the team’s leading scorer when the Elks beat Westerville Central 43-42 in the Division I state championship game at UD Arena.

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House scored 20 points in an 86-81 victory Saturday against Samford in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament. He scored nine points in the second round Sunday in an 81-75 victory against UNC Greensboro.

House made the all-tournament second team.

House arrived at Furman in 2024 after experiencing a 9-23 season as a freshman at Florida State and then a 17-16 season as a sophomore. He averaged 5.9 minutes per game in 53 appearances over two seasons.

In his first season at Furman, House averaged 7.1 points in 18.5 minutes per game. This season, as a senior, House averaged 8.0 points, scoring 20 or more points three times. He has appeared in 31 of 33 games and made 16 starts.