The Eagles have been the conference’s most successful team
Although a founding member of the conference, Winthrop didn’t have much success until Gregg Marshall took the helm in 1998, where he stayed for nine seasons. In that time, he led the Eagles to six regular-season titles and seven trips to the NCAA Tournament. In his final season, the Eagles earned their only tournament win with a win over Notre Dame.
Marshall would leave for Wichita State where he has since replicated that success with the Shockers and Randy Peele took over until 2012, where he added two more tournament titles in 2008 and 2010 during his tenure. It was during the Peele era that Winthrop suffered through some lean years, finishing above .500 just twice in five seasons and the Big South chaos began with seven different champions in the 11 years following the Eagles’ 2008 title.
Current coach Pat Kelsey took over following Peele’s departure in 2012, under Kelsey, Winthrop has added two more regular-season titles (2016, 2017) and another Big Dance appearance in 2017. It has been over the last five seasons that the team has begun to look like it did under Marshall, going 86-40 from 2016-2019, and this season has been a continuation of that success.