Predicting Winthrop’s record: Hop on before the March bandwagon fills up, Rock Hill

The sky didn’t fall on March 19, 2021 when 12th-seeded Winthrop lost to Villanova in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

It didn’t fall the next week when Pat Kelsey, Winthrop’s prolific marketer and head coach for nine seasons, said goodbye to Rock Hill and moved on to a better-paying job at College of Charleston.

It didn’t fall in the days after that, either, even when it looked like it might: Big South Player of the Year Chandler Vaudrin declared for the NBA draft (and even eventually got signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers). Players entered the NCAA transfer portal, enticed by the fact that, for the first time, they wouldn’t be penalized for doing so. Adonis Arms left for Texas Tech. Charles Falden departed for James Madison. Kyle Zunic moved on, too, graduating even though he had another year of eligibility.

There’s no doubt that the Eagles have changed in the seven months since March 2021.

But throughout all that change, somehow, no sky fell.

In fact, as I watched the team’s first official practice of the Mark Prosser era unfold on Thursday afternoon, I started to believe that these 2021-22 Eagles have the leeway to aim as high as any other Winthrop team ever has.

So let’s get this out of the way: Hop on the Winthrop basketball bandwagon now, Rock Hill. Like last year, it might be full by March.

What makes me so sure?

For one, this isn’t a Babe Ruth calling-my-shot sorta moment.

Winthrop is a perennial contender for the Big South Conference title. Last year, the program earned its 12th Big South championship since 1999 and its third in five years. But past that game? In the NCAA tournament? The Eagles have only won once, in the magical year that was 2007.

In other words, the best Winthrop teams — take last year’s 23-2 team that broke Big South records and got some AP Top 25 love and even held a winning streak that put them in the same sentence as No. 1 Gonzaga for example — are only separated by the good Winthrop teams at the margins.

Winthrop’s success blends together.

Its February and March fans do, too.

For two, even if “Winthrop will be good again” isn’t the boldest take, it can be backed up. This team is loaded.

The Eagles return Big South Defensive Player of the Year candidates Micheal Anumba and Chase Claxton. The 5-foot-8 Russell Jones Jr. is back at point guard, and he’s still fast and creative. Great Falls’ bouncy and energetic 6-foot-7 forward, sophomore Kelton Talford, appears to have filled out a once-lanky freshman frame and should be a key contributor again. And DJ Burns, the 6-foot-9 Rock Hill native with an impeccable inside scoring touch, returns, too. (And he can shoot threes now?)

And that’s without mentioning Josh Corbin and Toneari Lane, two players who played well but often got lost in Kelsey’s 12-player rotation last year.

But who will replace those who left?

Prosser — the son of the late, legendary Skip Prosser of whom Kelsey was an ardent disciple — will serve in Kelsey’s stead. Prosser was an assistant coach at Winthrop under Kelsey for six years before taking the head job at Western Carolina in 2018. Most of Prosser’s staff has prior experience working at Winthrop, too.

As for the players, an offseason with unprecedented transfer portal activity allowed Winthrop to cobble together a remarkably old team. Winthrop will dress no true freshmen in 2021-22.

Among the most notable transfers: There’s Drew Buggs, a graduate transfer point guard who has already had stints at Hawaii and the SEC’s Missouri before coming to Winthrop. There’s Cory Hightower, a 6-foot-7 forward who made a splash at the Big South’s Presbyterian College before joining Prosser at Western Carolina (and then, ultimately, following Prosser back to the Big South this year). There are others, too.

Prosser and his staff will have to figure out a way to manage all this talent, yes. But the overload means that the Eagles can play like they have the past two years — fast, fun and patient.

And that’s a formula that’s led to a lot of wins.

So to not belabor the point: Join in on the fun now, Rock Hill. The Eagles wagon won’t leave you behind, but the early fandom — with November non-conference matchups against Middle Tennessee State, Vanderbilt, Washington and Washington State — should be worth it.

And who knows? Come NCAA tournament time, you might have the chance to flaunt your fan fidelity in your March bandwagon-mates’ faces — reminiscing with glee on that time not too long ago when Winthrop’s sky almost fell but didn’t.

Winthrop season record prediction

▪ 21-8 in regular season

▪ 3-0 in Big South tournament

▪ 0-1 in NCAA tournament

This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.