Wintrhop Basketball: Regaining the top perch in Big South in 2019-20
Under Gregg Marshall, Winthrop Basketball ruled the Big South. Now under the tutelage of Pat Kelsey, the Eagles are on their way to once again rule over the conference.
The Big South Conference has been known as a conference that can be a little chaotic when it comes to conference tournament time, as can be seen by the six different teams that have claimed the Big South’s automatic bid over the last 10 seasons. One of those teams, the 2010 and 2017 champion Winthrop Basketball is currently leading the conference by 1.5 games and are were one of just six teams in college basketball that are undefeated in conference play before they were knocked off by Radford in their last game.
But the top spot in the Big South isn’t an unfamiliar spot for Pat Kelsey’s Eagles, yes they have won two tournament titles since 2010, prior to that, the conference was a little less chaotic as it was Winthrop who owned the conference and more specifically the conference tournament with eight NCAA Tournament berths since 1999.
Are the Eagles poised to take control of the Big South again? Winthrop was a founding member of the conference when it was founded in 1983, along with Campbell, Charleston Southern and Radford and since then have been the most successful basketball program in the history of the conference. Having done so through multiple coaches and eras they have proved they are more than just a cyclical team going through their turn at success.
Winthrop is now ready to ascend back to where they are accustomed, the top of the Big South conference and with another conference tournament approaching it’s a good time to take a look at how the Eagles are in a position to regain their crown.