On March 10 the men’s basketball team played Furman in a battle that determined the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference champion. The score concluded at 92-85, making the Terriers the official SoCon champions and official participants in the division 1 NCAA tournament, March Madness.
The Terriers then played in the tournament against the Tennessee Volunteers on March 20. Along with the Wofford student section, the players reflect on the wildly upbeat and immersive atmosphere in the Rupp Arena that night at the 6:50pm tipoff in Lexington, Ky.
“All of the fans were there. A large section of Wofford supporters were there. There was an increased sense of urgency from everyone,” Kyler Filewich ‘25 said.
Filewich, who has played center for the team since his beginning in 2022, was awarded the most outstanding player for the 2025 SoCon Men’s basketball championship. He looked back on his three memorable years on the team.
“There are three other seniors besides myself and we made up the core of the team. We knew it was our last go-round, so we made the most of it every single day and put everything we had into it,” Filewich said.
The other graduating players share his sentiment. Jackson Sivills ‘25, Dillon Bailey ‘25 and Corey Tripp ‘25 also reached the bittersweet finale to their sports careers at Wofford. Sivills won 20 points in the final game against Furman, partially due to the four 3-point field goals he made. Bailey contributed with his consistent free throws and field goal attempts. Tripp scored high all season; especially against East Tennessee State University, during which he scored 31 points total.
This year marks the Terriers’ first appearance in the tournament since 2019, when they held a victory over Seton Hall. According to Filewich, the recent appearance in the tournament may likely be the beginning of many more to come.
“The guys coming back are great and I know they’re working on bringing in some new guys as well … They’ll be able to keep that success going forward. We have the structure, the coaching staff, and the players to do it,” Filewich said.
The team is hopeful that the win against Furman is just the beginning of a streak of SoCon victories. The graduating class may leave large shoes to fill with just two rising seniors on the team: Anthony Arrington Jr. ‘26 and Justin Bailey ‘26.
Keely Vitkus ‘25, a graduating Wofford dancer, also looked back on the past few years and recognized the success the team had this season.
“Wofford is losing some of its star players with the seniors and with the players that are entering the transfer portal. Those are some of our best players but they truly held their own and made this an incredible win with a 15 point difference. If you look at other March Madness games of the season, there were many games where higher ranked teams scored far less than our team did,” Vitkus said.
The tournament in Kentucky was a tough fought battle against a well-known team, leaving Tennessee with the win, 77-62. Despite Tennessee’s victory and eventual procession to the Elite Eight, the Terriers remained resilient and positive. It is this very sentiment that the Wofford community has admired for decades, and will continue to define the men’s basketball program for years to come.
