2016–17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2016–17
Team:Winthrop Eagles
Conference:Big South Conference
Short Conf:Big South
Record:26–7
Conf Record:15–3
Hc Year:5th
Asst Coach1:Mark Prosser
Asst Coach2:Marty McGillan
Asst Coach3:Brian Kloman
Champion:Big South regular season co–champions
Big South tournament champions
Bowl Result:First Round

The 2016–17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team represented Winthrop University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach Pat Kelsey, played their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 26–7, 15–3 in Big South play to finish in a tie for the regular season Big South championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big South tournament, they defeated Charleston Southern, Gardner–Webb, and Campbell to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first bid since 2010.[1] In the NCAA Tournament, they lost in the first round to Butler.

After the season, head coach Pat Kelsey initially left Winthrop on March 21, 2017 to take the head coaching job at UMass, but backed out 2 days later for personal reasons and returned to the program.[2]

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2015–16 season 23–9, 13–5 in Big South play to win a share of the regular season conference championship. They defeated Presbyterian and Gardner–Webb to advance to the championship game of the Big South tournament where they lost to UNC Asheville. Despite the regular season conference title and 23 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Big South tournament|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Campbell vs. Winthrop - Game Recap - March 5, 2017 - ESPN. ESPN.com. 2017-03-06.
  2. News: Pat Kelsey backs out of UMass job, cites 'personal reasons'. Stephen. Hewitt. Boston Herald. March 23, 2017. July 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180217082604/http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/college/on_campus/2017/03/pat_kelsey_backs_out_of_umass_job_cites_personal_reasons. February 17, 2018. dead.