April 10, 2002

FURMAN BASKETBALL SIGNS TWO

GREENVILLE -- Furman men's basketball coach Larry Davis today announced the signing of Tony Carter, a 6-foot-1 guard from Burlington, N.C., and Robby Bostain, a 6-foot-4 guard/forward from Atlanta, Ga., to national letters-of-intent.

Carter averaged 16.0 points, 8.5 assists, and three steals per game as a senior at Williams High School while helping his team to a 21-7 record and second round appearance in the state playoffs. This past season he set new school single game (17) and season (181) assist records and was a first team all-conference and all-region selection. A three-year starter, he played a key role in leading Williams to a 64-16 record in that span.

Bostain averaged 26.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game this past season at Brookwood High School, where he earned 8-AAAAA Player-of-the-Year and Gwinnett County Co-Player-of-the-Year honors after helping his squad to a 20-9 record and into the state playoffs. The only returning starter off Brookwood's 2001 squad that went 27-2 and ranked as high as No. 12 nationally by USA Today, he was named to the Metro Atlanta Team-of-the-Year and among the state's Top 25 players by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club in 2002.

"Tony Carter is a player with tremendous quickness and is a pure point guard who also knows how to play the game," said Davis on Wednesday. "He's a good shooter who can distribute the basketball and, like Robby, is a product of a very successful program."

"I tickled to death that we were able to sign Robby Bostain because he's a guard with size and skills who really understands how to play," added Davis. "He as a tremendous upside. He's slender and can put on weight, but you can't give him what he's got, which is his knowledge of the game, where the ball should go, how to score ‹ those things. He also has a tremendous middle game; he can shoot the three but can also pull up and hit the 10 to 15 footer, which is a lost art in basketball.

Commenting on Bostain's decision to sign with Furman, Brookwood coach Craig Witmer said, " Robby chose Furman for its high standards, both academically and athletically, and because it is located close to home to make it possible for his parents to attend games. His statistics his senior year were pretty gaudy, but what he meant to our team could not be measured by numbers. His leadership, work ethic, and competitiveness led an inexperienced team back to the state tournament."

Carter's head coach at Williams High School, Tommy Cole, was equally high on his player's decision to sign with the Paladins. "Tony will be an outstanding addition to Furman. He hustles all the time, is a great team leader, and is as good a person as he is a player. He's the best point guard I've coached at Williams (19 years).

Last year Furman posted its first winning season since 1993, going 17-14 and finishing as Southern Conference Tournament runner-up under Davis, who completed his fifth year as head coach of the Paladin program.