All-Time Big South Conference Standings
10 Big South Championships
9 NCAA Tour ament Appearances
2013-14 Yearbook
As Pat Kelsey enters his second season as
head coach of the Winthrop Eagles, expectations
are high as the team returns five starters to go
along with a mix of veteran players and talented
newcomers. Coaches, players and fans hope
this combination gets the program headed back
toward its winning tradition.For Kelsey, expecta-
tions are always high as the team goal is to win
the Big South Conference Championship and that
never changes. “We will never lower our expecta-
tions of competing for a championship.”
Kelsey came into his first season with an en-
thusiasm that funneled on to the court in the style
and effort in which the team performed. Injuries
forced the Eagles to play much less of an up
tempo style that Kelsey prefers but this season
should reflect more of his style of play. With the a
good number of key players returning and added
depth with the newcomers, the Eagles should
push the ball up the court a lot more.
“We will unquestionably play with a greater
pace offensively,” said Kelsey. “The make-up
of our roster and additional depth will allow us
to push the ball more than we did last season.
Our depth, especially at the perimeter, will be a
strength of this team.”
Winthrop returns five starters from the 2012-
13 team that finished 14-17 overall that included
road wins at Ohio and Auburn and a conference
record of 6-10. The Eagles faced numerous
key injuries last season to force changes to the
starting line-up in the final weeks of the season.
The team’s leading scorer Derrick Henry suffered
a season-ending knee injury and then starting
forward Larry Brown, the team’s top rebounder,
suffered a hand injury. Christian Farmer missed
time with a hand injury and then tack on the loss
of point guard Brandon Vega in the preseason.
Kelsey has formed a full roster where lack
of depth won’t be as big of a concern or issue
as it became last season. Last season Kelsey
preached “Next Man Up” whenever the team
encountered injuries but didn’t have the deepest
bench. This year the team has a lot more depth
and will have a stronger pool of players to choose
from should the team endure the amount of inju-
ries it did a season ago. Kelsey said one of the
things he learned the most his first year as head
coach was dealing with the injuries and adjusting
accordingly.
Despite five starters returning, there is a huge
battle going on in preseason for a starting role
and Kelsey said it is wide open. “Only two and a
half weeks into practice, roles are still being de-
fined. The fact that there is much more competi-
tion for minutes has definitely made for extremely
competitive practices.”
BACKCOURT
This will be an area of great depth for the Ea-
gles as they didn’t lose too much at the position.
Departed are Gideon Gamble and Reggie King
as Gamble brought an outside presence while
King was tough and possessed strong leadership
that will be missed.
The backcourt has taken a little hit on the
injury front as last year’s leading scorer Derrick
Henry is still in the process of rehabbing his knee.
Henry had surgery last March and is around
the eighth month of recovery. It’s uncertain on
whether Henry, who averaged a team-best 11.4
ppg in 2012-13, will return this season or not.
One of the top contenders to step into the
shooting guard roll was redshirt junior Keon
moore, but he had surgery on his knee and
is expected to miss 3-6 weeks (as of Nov. 1).
Moore sat out last season after transferring from
Catawba College and while he might be to the
fans, he’s had an entire year to get acclimated
to system. He’s known for his scoring ability as
he netted over 1,000 points in just two seasons
at Catawba. He was the 2010-11 South Atlantic
Freshman of the Year after averaging 16.9 points
and 5.2 rebounds. As a sophomore he averaged
21.4 points and was named to the All-SAC First
Team.
Junior Andre Smith returns after starting 28 of
the 31 games he played at the point guard spot.
Smith, who averaged 9.1 points and 2.2 assists
while knocking down 38 percent from behind
PAT KELSEY
Season Preview
Season Preview
