Winthrop guard, coach earn Big South honors
The leaders behind Winthrop basketball’s magical season have earned some due recognition.
Chandler Vaudrin, point guard of the Winthrop men’s basketball team (20-1, 17-1 Big South), was voted the Big South’s Player of the Year, per a release from the conference on Friday afternoon. He is joined by Winthrop’s Pat Kelsey, who won conference Coach of the Year for the first time in his tenure in Rock Hill.
Vaudrin is the first player from Winthrop to win Player of the Year honors in three years. Xavier Cooks earned the honor in 2017-18.
Vaudrin, the 6-foot-7 lefty and matchup nightmare ranks seventh nationally with 6.7 assists per game. He’s also third in the conference in rebounds per game (6.8) and 12th in points per game (12.3), and he’s only the second player in Big South history to notch two triple-doubles in a season, per the news release.
He finished with 11 first-place votes from the league’s head coaches and media panel.
Coaching them up
Kelsey had a clear hand in Winthrop’s special run this year: The Cincinnati native helped Winthrop to its first outright conference title since the 2006-07 season and ushered in a flurry of “bests.” There was the best start in Winthrop history, then best start in Big South history, then, in the end, the most league victories in conference history (17).
Kelsey received 14-first place votes, just ahead of Radford’s Mike Jones and Campbell’s Kevin McGeehan.
Other Eagles who made a splash: Chase Claxton finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Charles Falden and DJ Burns earned all-conference honorable mentions.
Winthrop will be the top seed in the conference tournament, which begins this weekend.
All-Big South teams and individual awards
First-Team All-Conference
Chandler Vaudrin, G, R-Sr., Winthrop
Davion Warren, G/F, Sr., Hampton
Phlandrous Fleming Jr., G/F, Sr., Charleston Southern
John-Michael Wright, G, Soph., High Point
Jaheam Cornwall, G, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Second-Team All-Conference
Cedric Henderson Jr., F, Jr., Campbell
Tajion Jones, G, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
Juan Munoz, G, R-Jr., Longwood
Rayshon Harrison, G, Fr., Presbyterian College
Jordan Whitfield, G, Sr., Campbell
Honorable Mention All-Conference
DJ Burns Jr., C, R-Soph., Winthrop
Tommy Bruner, G, Soph., USC Upstate
LJ Thorpe, G, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
Russell Dean, G, Soph., Hampton
Charles Falden, G, Sr., Winthrop
All-Freshman Team
Rayshon Harrison, G, Presbyterian College
Fah’Mir Ali, G, Radford
Justin Hill, G, Longwood
D’Maurian Williams, F, Gardner-Webb
Ahmil Flowers, G, High Point
All-Academic Team
Austin McCullough, G, Sr., Campbell
Kareem Reid, F, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Emmanuel Izunabor, C, Soph., High Point
DeShaun Wade, G, Jr., Longwood
Owen McCormack, F, Soph., Presbyterian College
Jordan Hemphill, G, Jr., Radford
Coty Jude, F, Jr., UNC Asheville
Nevin Zink, C, Jr., USC Upstate
Kyle Zunic, G, Sr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Chandler Vaudrin, G, R-Sr., Winthrop
Freshman of the Year
Rayshon Harrison, G, Presbyterian College
Defensive Player of the Year
Phlandrous Fleming Jr., G/F, Sr., Charleston Southern
Coach of the Year
Pat Kelsey, Winthrop
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Nevin Zink, C, Jr., USC Upstate
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 3:50 PM.
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