Winthrop basketball earns Top 25 attention for the second season in 15 years
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated how many times Winthrop has earned AP Top 25 votes since 2006-07. The Herald confirmed the previous total with a school spokesman. The error has been fixed.
The Winthrop men’s basketball team has earned some more national attention.
The Eagles, not even 24 hours removed from their eight-point win over Gardner-Webb on Sunday, received at least one vote in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 rankings, which were released on Monday.
They received two “points,” AP results show — meaning that either one AP voter ranked Winthrop as the No. 24 team in the country or two voters ranked Winthrop as the No. 25 team in the country. To be clear, the Eagles did not receive enough votes to be nationally ranked.
This is the third season Winthrop has earned any AP Top 25 consideration. The first time was in its 2006-07 season: That year, the Eagles finished the regular season 22nd in the AP Top 25 and USA Today/ESPN Poll before going on to notch the only NCAA Tournament win in program history.
The other season was last year, in February, when Winthrop received points in the Feb. 3 and Feb. 10 polls.
Winthrop is the only Big South Conference team to ever be nationally ranked, according to records available to a Big South spokesman.
The Eagles are one of two teams from the Big South to earn a vote in the AP Top 25 in the last two seasons: The other team was Radford on Dec. 3, 2018, after the team defeated No. 17 Texas.
How good is Winthrop?
Winthrop — which is off to the best start in program and Big South history — is among only five teams who have an undefeated record and have played at least 10 games. That list includes Gonzaga (ranked No. 1), Baylor (No. 2), Drake (unranked) and Michigan (No. 7).
Winthrop, as of Monday morning, is ranked as the 51st best team in the country, per the official NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). That’s ahead of several nationally renowned teams, including NC State and Florida — both of whom received more “points” in the Top 25 rankings than Winthrop did this week.
Winthrop is also ranked No. 2 in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll, behind Gonzaga — a feat buoyed by its wins over UNC-Greensboro, Little Rock and Furman earlier this season.
Last year, the Eagles won the Big South Conference Tournament and earned a bid in the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the threat of coronavirus. (And no, as aforementioned, they didn’t receive any votes that year.)
Where is Winthrop?
For those who are just starting to learn about Winthrop, here are three things to know:
▪ Winthrop is a public university located in Rock Hill, South Carolina, approximately 30 miles south of Charlotte.
▪ The team’s head coach is Pat Kelsey, who came to Winthrop in 2012. Kelsey has won 174 games as coach at Winthrop, enough for sixth all-time in the Big South and second-most in Winthrop history behind Gregg Marshall. Notably, last spring, national media reports said that the Cincinnati native was among a short list of candidates to replace Danny Manning as Wake Forest’s head coach. (That was the only head coaching change in any Power 5 conference this past offseason.)
▪ The Winthrop basketball team is home to Chandler Vaudrin — the team’s 6-7 senior point guard who leads the nation in triple-doubles this season (with two) — and is known for its depth: The Eagles regularly play an 11-man rotation.
When does Winthrop play next?
The Eagles are scheduled to play Big South Conference opponent Longwood in back-to-back contests on Thursday and Friday. Each game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
Full AP Top 25 rankings?
Check out the full list on the Associated Press’ site.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 12:44 PM.
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