From 1998 to 200, Gregg Marshall served as head coach of the Winthrop University men’s basketball team. Guiding his players to seven NCAA Tournament appearances during a span of nine seasons, he had arguably become the greatest coach in Big South history by the time he left Winthrop in April 2007 to coach at Wichita State University.
In early October, reports published by The Athletic and Stadium revealed that Wichita State was internally investigating Marshall after current and former players at the school alleged he had been physically and verbally abusive.
Another report from The Athletic brought forth allegations from former Winthrop players as well, which stated that Marshall had teased a player about their mental health, told a player he would send them “back to Africa,” and put his hands on players on multiple occasions.
Torrell Martin, a Winthrop basketball alumnus, said he never experienced Marshall do anything out of the ordinary during their four years together.
“When I came [to Winthrop], me and Marshall developed a good relationship on and off the court – I used to babysit his kids,” Martin said. “I do believe that Marshall, the guy that I know, and his family all together were just great people, and they always brought the best out of everybody.”
Martin played at Winthrop from 2003 to 2007, scoring over 1,000 points and helping lead the Eagles to three Big South Tournament Championships and their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in 2007 with a 74-64 upset over Notre Dame. He was inducted into the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 after having played eight years of basketball at the professional level in Europe.
“Of all the coaches that I’ve had – after leaving college and going pro – [Marshall] might be one of the more milder coaches I’ve encountered, because these coaches in different countries are a whole [other] level,” Martin said.
While Martin described Marshall’s coaching tactics as “unorthodox,” he said he never heard him use racist or sexist language as other former players have alleged. He also said he never experienced Marshall physically abuse anyone while he was a student at Winthrop.
“Marshall would yell, but the only thing he did was, if we had any situation, we would get removed,” Martin said. “I remember one of our biggest situations, he just had an assistant coach get the player out of there. That was how it [was] handled when we were in any film session.
“Then on the basketball court, we ran. That was it. We ran, or you were dismissed. That’s all it was.”
Martin talked fondly of the locker room relationships at Winthrop and said he and his teammates were “a deep joking team.” He said the coaches were involved as well.
“We literally had jokes on all of the coaches, and it was based off of their attributes and how they were – how they talked, how they moved. That’s what we did for camaraderie,” Martin said.
“We all did things to be a family…my dad prayed for us in [a] group before games. Our vibe was different. I can’t vouch for how folks [are] moving now, but how we were, it was just a different thing. And that’s why we won three of them things back-to-back-to-back.”
Martin said that some things that are a problem today were “not even close to an issue back then” because of the style of guys that he and his teammates were. He also said he related to Marshall’s intensity.
“I think when you’re a naturally aggressive type of person, it’s easy to pin a certain type of way on you,” Martin said. “But when you’ve had success and you’re already a naturally aggressive person like a lot of the young Black males [on the team] are, it’s kinda like, listen, there’s a lot worse out here in these streets. We’re happy to be here and we want to win.”
“Ultimately, Marshall’s a little older and I think maybe the era that we had was just different from this era, and everybody experiences individual differences.”
Martin said his image of Marshall and Marshall’s family is “really good” because of the way they always treated him.
“Everybody’s personal experiences are their personal experiences, so I can’t really speak on [anything] but mine, and mine’s only been great.”
Photo courtesy of Winthrop Athletics
I served as Winthrop’s Sports Information Director and Assistant AD for Media Relations for 27 years (1990-2017), including the nine years that Gregg Marshall was head basketball coach. I was the primary media contact for men’s basketball during that time and worked all of Winthrop’s games both home and away. In those nine years, I never witnessed Coach Marshall physically attack a player. Like many coaches, he was intense and demanding, and occasionally rough with his language as a motivating force. He expected his players to give a full effort in practice and games. The results showed by Winthrop’s record, the seven NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure, and the career successes of his players after graduation. When he left Winthrop in 2007, he had taken the school’s basketball program to national heights and recognition. The program still enjoys the fruits of that success today.