Pat Estepp joined the Furman men’s basketball staff as assistant head coach in the summer of 2024.
In his second season, the 2025-26 Paladins overcame several in-season injuries to post a 22-13 record, claim their second SoCon Tournament title in the last four years, and reach the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four seasons. Furman downed top-seed ETSU, 76-61, to capture the league championship behind second team All-SoCon guard Alex Wilkins, the tournament’s most outstanding player. Ben Vander Wal was named to the league’s all-defensive team while Cooper Bowser and Tim House joined Wilkins on the all-tournament squad. A 15th seed, the Paladins pushed eventual national runner-up UConn in the opening round of the NCAA Tournaent before falling 82-71.
Estepp helped the 2024-25 Furman Paladins to a 25-10 record, SoCon finals appearance, and an at-large bid to the NIT. Furman’s 25 wins tied for the second most in school history. Senior PJay Smith Jr. captured first team All-SoCon honors and NABC All-District honors while graduate student Nick Anderson was named third team All-SoCon.
Estepp spent the 24 seasons at Cedarville (OH) University, including the last 16 as head coach, prior to joining the Furman staff. He posted a 292-191 record and guided the NCAA Division II Yellow Jackets to three NCCAA national titles (2012, 2019, 2024). Last season, Cedarville notched its seventh 20-win season in Estepp’s 16 years by fashioning a 23-win campaign en route to the NCCAA championship.
A 1997 graduate of Cedarville, Estepp led the Yellow Jackets to their first-ever NCAA Division II Tournament during the 2021-22 season. His Cedarville squads captured their first G-MAC Tournament title in 2013 and claimed runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022.
Estepp, an NCAA Division II congressman on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Board of Directors, served as head coach of the East team in the 2023 Reese’s Division II College All-Star Game. He took on his current position after serving as an assistant coach for eight years under former Cedarville head coach Ray Slagle and played a key role during Slagle's successful tenure with the Yellow Jackets from 2000 to 2008.
Cedarville won 177 games during that time span, averaged 24.1 wins over the last seven seasons, won three American Mideast Conference titles, and two AMC Tournament championships. The Yellow Jackets made five trips to the NAIA Division II National Tournament where they never lost in the first round. They advanced to the semifinals once, the quarterfinals twice, and to the second round twice.
Estepp also has a master’s degree in education from Cedarville University. He and his wife, Melanie, are the parents of three children.
