With a win against Campbell on Dec. 30, Winthrop moved to 6-0, the best start to a season in program history. Six days later, the Eagles set a record for the best start to a season in Big South Conference history, moving to 9-0 after defeating Charleston Southern.
There are many factors that have helped contribute to Winthrop’s success, but the team’s greatest strength is simply depth. With twelve players who see significant playing time, there’s always someone ready to sink a big shot or secure an important stop on defense.
“This is a special group,” Assistant Coach Brian Kloman said. “Selfless. Different. They trust us; they trust each other. They just want to win basketball games. They don’t care who gets the credit.”
With Winthrop as the clear favorite to win the Big South, fans have already started scanning March Madness bracket predictions to see where the Eagles are projected to be seeded in the NCAA Tournament. For ESPN, Joe Lunardi’s latest predictions show Winthrop as a 12-seed squaring off against the Missouri Tigers. Jerry Palm, a bracketologist for CBS, also has Winthrop as a 12-seed, but this time facing the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Regardless of predictions, the players and coaches know that winning the Big South Tournament is almost certainly the only way Winthrop secures a spot in the NCAA Tournament. That means they must keep their focus to one game at a time.
“Every coach in this league is very good and there’s talent. You saw [Charleston Southern’s] Phlandrous Fleming. He can beat anybody at any time,” Kloman said.
“There’s nothing that we can take for granted, nor would we want to. We’ve got a healthy respect for every single opponent that we play because they all have good players, good coaches, and they all want to win basketball games.”
Limiting your focus to the next game on the schedule becomes increasingly difficult when the schedule is rapidly changing. With COVID-19 temporarily shutting down teams left and right, Winthrop’s next opponent could change overnight. The Eagles have already rescheduled several conference matchups.
“Coaches will work 25, 27, 34 hours on one scout, and then boom, it’s on to the next one because it got canceled,” Kloman said. “And now we’re playing this game and we stay up until… to be honest with you, I don’t know if [Coach Kelsey] sleeps more than two hours a day.
“Guys are watching film in and out of these offices all the time, but preparation is the same in terms of we’re trying to be great at the next thing we do, no matter what that thing is.”
The Eagles themselves have faced issues related to COVID-19. Two weeks before the season was set to tip-off, Winthrop paused men’s basketball activities due to multiple positive cases of COVID-19 within the program.
Winthrop was originally scheduled to play five non-conference games in Louisville, but with the Eagles and some of their opponents having to pause, the number diminished to two. Once in Louisville, sophomores Russell Jones Jr. and Chase Claxton were unable to play due to COVID-19 protocols.
That setback didn’t stop Winthrop from defeating two respectable opponents in the Little Rock Trojans and the UNC Greensboro Spartans. Those wins, along with a 16-point victory over the Furman Paladins at home, make up Winthrop’s entire non-conference resumé.
The Eagles began their conference slate with two convincing wins over USC Upstate. In the second victory, senior Chandler Vaudrin recorded a triple-double (his first of the season and sixth of his collegiate career) with 13 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
In Winthrop’s next conference doubleheader, the Eagles narrowly escaped Campbell the first time around, but easily took care of business the next day behind another Vaudrin triple-double (10 points, 10 assists, 13 rebounds). While Vaudrin continuously puts up impressive stats, he provides even better leadership to the team.
“If Coach Kelsey got two technicals, I wouldn’t be shocked if Chan coached the team,” Kloman said.
“I think what he brings to the table, that selfless energy, becomes synergistic. One becomes two and two become four and four become eight, and it starts with him. Because he is so willing to make a play for somebody else, other people are willing to make a play for somebody else. He’s our engine, and we’ve got a lot of parts.”
With their latest two victories over Gardner-Webb, the Eagles boast an 11-0 record, making them one of less than ten undefeated teams remaining at the Division I level this season. Winthrop’s 16-game winning streak (dating back to last season) is tied with Gonzaga for the longest active winning streak in the country.
Winthrop will tip-off next on Thursday, Jan. 21, and Friday, Jan. 22 in Winthrop Coliseum against the Longwood Lancers. Both games are at 6 pm and can be viewed on ESPN+.
Photo by Olivia Esselman
