Located a mile to the east of the primary campus and capable of seating over 6,000 people, the Winthrop Coliseum is the pride and joy of the university’s athletic program. In a typical semester, the stadium would be the battleground for Winthrop’s prestigious basketball and volleyball teams to achieve victory, but special circumstances this semester have made it unknown as to when the teams will take the court for competition.
Despite these setbacks, COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the Winthrop basketball coaches from having some fun with the installment of a barbershop chair inside the stadium.
“The Rock Shop is open,” Head Basketball Coach Pat Kelsey posted on his Twitter account, alongside a cryptic photo of a leather–clad barber chair within what appeared to be a Coliseum office space, its walls adorned with Winthrop Eagle iconography. Fans were chomping at the bit to learn more about the mysterious chair and what exactly its purpose was.
“Well, it’s just something we thought would be really cool to do,” Kelsey said. “Recruiting and providing great experiences for the student–athletes is such an important thing to do. Being a coach and recruiter, my clientele are 18-20–year–old young men. I’m getting old, but we really try our best to continue to be able to relate to our players.”
Kelsey and his players were Big South Champions in 2020, marking the twelfth time the team has won the conference tournament. With several new incoming players, the barber chair is one way the Eagles are looking to build chemistry as they prepare to make another run for the NCAA Tournament.
The chair was installed during the first week of August inside assistant basketball coach Brian Kloman’s office. Kloman was also the inventor of the idea.
“All of our coaching staff is phenomenal in building relationships with players, and our players have such a comfort level in our coaches offices,” Kelsey said. “Guys just like to come in, sit down, turn on the TV, talk about life.
“We had always kidded that it was kind of like a barbershop,” he said. “We added the chair to Coach Kloman’s office, and now it continues to be that conversation room, but now it’s also a place where you can get a haircut.”
Kelsey confirmed that the chair was installed for more than just aesthetics in a short video posted on the Winthrop Men’s Basketball social media, in which he performed the first official haircut of the shop on his son. He said that the service would be open to student–athletes eventually, but he is currently working through the specifics of the operation.
“The NCAA allows certain amenities to be provided to student–athletes through certain funds, and that’s the way schools around the country with similar services utilize those resources,” Kelsey said. “We’re still working through all those details, but the first step was to get it installed.”
“It’s a great conversation piece. People seem to enjoy talking about it, and the players got a real kick out of it. If anything, right now, it’s just a really unique chair to sit in and hang out in the coach’s office.”
Photo courtesy of Winthrop Athletics
