Hello, I recently qualified for FL Nationals as a junior and got contact by the coach from Furman. I am not from the South so I had never heard of the school, and I didn't even know what state it is in to be honest but I saw they had a lot of great Freshman runners there. I was wondering what your thoughts on the quality of the Track/XC program as well as the school are?
FU
You can search on this board, as there have been quite a few threads discussing Furman.
The gist of it is that the coach has only been there a couple of years. He appears to be doing some really good things in recruiting. That appears to be mostly because they are putting a lot of resources into the program.
You can find mixed opinions about his ability to coach guys--most of those discussions have to do with his time at Ohio State. I don't think he has been at Furman long enough for anybody to know if it is going to work there or not.
Furman University, not College!
Check Fordham University...
For more information on Furman check out the following links:
http://www.flotrack.org/video/724037-Furman-Socon-Championships-Recap
Great education and a program that has been picking up good talent since the new coaches arrived a year ago. Also one of the nicest campuses and cities in the country.
New Furman coach fired all T&F coaches and cut non-distance runners from the team. There is no track "team" just a bunch of individual distance runners selfishly trying to PR every week.
New assistant "coaches" do no actual coaching are just pro runners who dazzle recruits with their shoe contracts and "you can be like me if you come here" sell.
If you're looking to be a mile/steeple runner in college, then definitely consider Coach Gary and Furman. He's a tremendous coach for those events. If you are more of a 5k/10k quality runner down the road, you might want to look at other schools. There is definitely a strong distance running culture being built at Furman and if you've ever thought even for a second about going to school in the south, consider Furman. If not, then don't waste your time.
It appears "Infoonfurman " poster is a Furman Coach
Gary has been at Furman for little over 1 year. Team was told he accepted job at Furman in 2012 and had 2 contracts; Buckeyes were not pleased and fired him in April 2012.
Academically, Furman used to be top-notch, but have fallen off the last couple years because it is so expensive, they've started supporting athletics more, and they need students.
Program and staffing is recently funded from a big donor and they have a set-up like Oklahoma State (distance only). #4 Flotrack recruiting class in his 1st year and looks like they have an equally good one in the works for this year. Rumor is they're fully-funded.
Most impressive is the Furman Elite team they support there; several men and women with Olympic A-standards (probably 4th best post-college group in US). Nicole Bush who won the USA steeple title and Cory Leslie who tore up last year in steeple and mile are on the coaching staff as well.
As for personal timeline, definitely some cross over. However, it was 5 years ago, new wife is certainly hot, and their kid is cute. Guess that's life.
For what it's worth, my friend was a stud and got full ride and absolutely loves it there (except school is tough)
Wow - a team filled with "distance runners selfishly trying to PR every week" - it must be a very silly place.
Fully funded?
12 and 18 full scholarships for only distance runners
It's a beautiful campus tucked into the mountains, a solid academic school, upstart distance running program, but it is in Greenville, which has a Bible Belt stronghold.
greenville isn't in the mountains, idiot.
The school is fairly liberal, relative to others in the SE.
FU is a good small school.
Has a very good academic reputation.
Beautiful campus in the upstate of SC; rolling hills, but definitely not in the mountains, which are about an hour away.
It's just a few minutes from Greenville, SC, which isn't a bad medium-sized town (with the extreme qualifier that it is in SC, and all the back-ass-country-redneckness that implies)
Robert Gary pretty much is the figurehead coach. He spends all his time on the pro athletes and lets his wife (women) and chris neal (men) coach the college kids.
Great recruiting class last year but very mediocre results this fall. Yes they are only freshmen but based on high school accomplishments, the fall was mediocre at best.
Fully funded with the lure of joining the furman elite after graduating. They basically give fulls to all the kids who are getting partial offers from BCS schools.
Jury is still out on if they will actually become nationally competitive. They are certainly challenging the Pete Watson era UNC teams for the title of biggest hype machine.
at least the Pete Watson hype machine performed marginally Furman was god awful at regionals.
I took one of my official visits to Furman this past fall. Wasn't quite the fit for me but there's definitely an opportunity for this team to be good.
Positives:
- You're going to get A LOT (Most likely full ride)of athletic money right off the bat
- Great area to train: Miles of soft surface, Mondo track, etc..
- Pretty much anything you could ask for resource wise in a small school but doesn't really live up to BCS facilities
- Weather is great for year round training
- Greenville is a pretty cool place, especially the downtown
- Solid academics
- Furman Elite guys were bros (for the most part)
Negatives:
- The squad has a weird feel to it but then again it's hard to take 5-6 of the top recruits in the nation who think they're the big man on campus and have them work as a team
- One of my main worries was Coach Gary seemed more focused on the Elite group
- Felt like if I got injured or didn't pan out as runner I'd be pushed aside and watch the next high school stud on the list come replace me
- It was far away from home in my case which you could see as a positive or a negative
- Cross country is really the only sport the team can succeed in which you'll find at any all distance program
Overall I think they have what it takes to be a new powerhouse in XC in a couple of years, they just need to mature and create some tradition. This year was a little rough around the edges but I still think they will pan out to be solid. Do I think they'll be a NCAA title contender? No. Top 10? Yeah sure.
You'll find a very wide range of opinions of Furman with the more people you ask. My advice is to get to know the coaches and team for yourself, could be a great fit for you. Obviously there wouldn't be any kids there if they didn't think they could reach their potentials at Furman but it's up to you to decide.
Related Letsrun thread:
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=4584162I'm afraid if I put the word "adultery" then this post will get deleted, so I won't.
Sureman Furman wrote:
I took one of my official visits to Furman this past fall. Wasn't quite the fit for me but there's definitely an opportunity for this team to be good.
Positives:
- You're going to get A LOT (Most likely full ride)of athletic money right off the bat
- Great area to train: Miles of soft surface, Mondo track, etc..
- Pretty much anything you could ask for resource wise in a small school but doesn't really live up to BCS facilities
- Weather is great for year round training
- Greenville is a pretty cool place, especially the downtown
- Solid academics
- Furman Elite guys were bros (for the most part)
Negatives:
- The squad has a weird feel to it but then again it's hard to take 5-6 of the top recruits in the nation who think they're the big man on campus and have them work as a team
- One of my main worries was Coach Gary seemed more focused on the Elite group
- Felt like if I got injured or didn't pan out as runner I'd be pushed aside and watch the next high school stud on the list come replace me
- It was far away from home in my case which you could see as a positive or a negative
- Cross country is really the only sport the team can succeed in which you'll find at any all distance program
Overall I think they have what it takes to be a new powerhouse in XC in a couple of years, they just need to mature and create some tradition. This year was a little rough around the edges but I still think they will pan out to be solid. Do I think they'll be a NCAA title contender? No. Top 10? Yeah sure.
You'll find a very wide range of opinions of Furman with the more people you ask. My advice is to get to know the coaches and team for yourself, could be a great fit for you. Obviously there wouldn't be any kids there if they didn't think they could reach their potentials at Furman but it's up to you to decide.
I'm not sure this was written by a high school student as it is too polished and smells of salesmanship.