Former Cedarville University coach finds job in Division I

Pat Estepp will coach at Southern after long tenure in NAIA and then NCAA D-II

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Pat Estepp will work as an assistant coach at Furman University after 24 seasons at Cedarville University.

Estepp stepped down at Cedarville on July 22 “to pursue another opportunity in college basketball,” Cedarville announced at the time. He changed his biography on X (Twitter) in early August to show he was moving to Furman, and Furman now lists him on its website as an assistant coach on Bob Richey’s staff.

Estepp took over the head coaching job at Cedarville in May 2008 when he was 33 years old. He spent the previous eight seasons on Ray Slagle’s staff at Cedarville.

In 16 seasons as the head coach, Estepp had a record of 292-191. He’s the second-winningest coach in school history behind Don Callan, who led the program from 1960-95 and had a record of 578-423.

Furman is located in Greenville, S.C., and plays in the Southern Conference. Richey is entering his eighth season. He led the Paladins to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 33 years in 2023, and they upset No.4 seed Virginia in the first round before losing to No. 5 seed San Diego State.

Furman finished 17-16 last season. It has posted winning records in nine straight seasons and won 22 or more games six times in that span.

Richey’s staff includes another coach with a local connection. Assistant coach Khyle Marshall was a graduate assistant coach at Dayton in the 2019-20 season. Marshall joined Richey’s staff this year after three seasons at South Dakota State.

Furman’s 2024-25 roster includes Centerville graduate Tom House, who transferred there in April after two seasons at Florida State.

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