By Mark Simpson
Big South Conference
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – As part of the Big South Conference’s 25th Anniversary celebration in 2008-09, which is presented by Royal Purple, the Conference is profiling each week the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. This week’s feature is the 2006-07 Winthrop University Men’s Basketball Team.
A video vignette of the Eagles’ memorable season can be viewed on the Big South’s website, www.BigSouthSports.com, under the 25th Anniversary Media Center banner. In addition, video vignettes around all the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments are available for viewing online on both the League website and the Conference’s YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/bigsouthsports.
Winthrop men’s basketball had already been enjoying monumental success prior to the 2006-07 season, as evident by its six Big South championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in an eight-year span. The Eagles also captured several high profile non-Conference wins during the time period. But the program’s glowing obstacle was advancing in the NCAA Tournament. The squad had a strong showing in the 2005 NCAAs against No. 3 seed Gonzaga, playing even with the Zags for 36 minutes before falling by 10 points. In 2006, the Eagles came close to their first NCAA Tournament win as they took No. 2 seed Tennessee to the wire, but the Vols’ Chris Lofton hit the game-winning shot with one second left to squash those hopes.
Following that heartbreaking loss was the news of head coach Gregg Marshall leaving to become head coach at College of Charleston. But Marshall reversed his decision to depart the program he built into a perennial winner, and declared that the Winthrop Eagles had some unfinished business to take care of in 2006-07.
Marshall’s return to the bench as well as his crop of returning veterans in Craig Bradshaw, Torrell Martin, Chris Gaynor and Phillip Williams that had gone 50-14 the past two years propelled the Eagles as the unanimous pick to win the Big South in 2006-07. Winthrop would need this nucleus in facing arguably the toughest non-Conference schedule in school history – North Carolina, Mississippi State, Wisconsin, Maryland and Texas A&M, to name a few.
After opening the season 2-0, the Eagles faced No. 2 North Carolina in the Preseason NIT. Winthrop led the Tar Heels at halftime, but ran out of gas as North Carolina won by just seven points, 73-66. Winthrop claimed its first signature win of the season three days later, winning 74-63 at Mississippi State. After an 11-point loss at No. 24 Maryland, the Eagles reeled off three-straight wins to move to 6-2 on the year entering its game at No. 11 Wisconsin. Against the Badgers, Winthrop came within :10 seconds of knocking off the nationally-ranked team. Playing without an injured Gaynor, the Eagles came back from a 14-point deficit and took a 65-63 lead on Michael Jenkins’ three-pointer with a minute to play. Wisconsin would tie it to send the game into overtime and would eventually prevail, 82-79. Martin had 31 points in the effort.
Following the near miss against Wisconsin, Winthrop knocked off its next four opponents, including Mount St. Mary’s, East Carolina and Old Dominion, to stand at 10-3 entering the new year. The Eagles were getting respect nationally by their peers, as the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll had Winthrop ranked No. 2 with Southern Illinois on Jan. 2. The new year of 2007 brought the last nationally-ranked opponent and the start of the Big South Conference season. The Eagles suffered a 71-51 setback at No. 11 Texas A&M, meaning all four losses at this point were to nationally-ranked programs.
The excitement over the Eagles’ start began to resonate within the Rock Hill community and Charlotte area. On Jan. 6 in the Eagles’ home Conference opener against VMI, Winthrop downed the nation’s leading scoring team, 108-76 in front of 5,117 fans, the third-largest home crowd in Winthrop history and the most points scored by Winthrop under Marshall. The win over the Keydets began a remarkable run the rest of the season.
Winthrop won its next five Big South games and carried a 6-0 League mark and 16-4 overall record into its meeting with Coastal Carolina on Jan. 27. The Chanticleers were the last Big South team to defeat the Eagles on their home court and swept the season series in 2005-06. The renewed rivalry, regionally-televised broadcast on SportSouth and the enthusiasm around the Winthrop program drew the first sellout in the Winthrop Coliseum’s 25-year history. The 6,011 fans in attendance were treated to another epic Eagles comeback (seven points) and thrilling finish, as Winthrop outlasted Coastal Carolina, 65-63.
During this time, Winthrop had won 16-straight home games, became the first Big South team to open League play 7-0 since the 1998-99 Eagles, and at 17-4, had already clinched its ninth consecutive season with at least 15 wins, extending its Big South record. In addition, the Eagles would draw Missouri State of the Missouri Valley Conference in the ESPNU BracketBusters, which would be played Friday night, Feb. 16 in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPN2.
As the calendar flipped to February, the Eagles began to draw more and more attention. They were ranked No. 3 in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, received votes in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, and attracted national media outlets to Rock Hill, including the New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, Basketball Times and later, a USA Today cover story. By mid-February, Winthrop was 21-4 overall and 11-0 in the Big South – tying the League record for best Conference start. The Eagles were also the first team in Big South history with three consecutive 20 win seasons, and was challenging its own record for most wins in a single-season (27). In addition, Marshall became the second coach in League history to win 100 regular-season Big South games. The impressive part is that Winthrop managed its win streak without Martin, who missed seven games with an injury.
Winthrop solidified its status as a potential NCAA Tournament at-large contender after defeating Missouri State, 77-66, in the ESPNU BracketBusters. Jenkins scored a game-high 25 points and connected on six three-pointers to lead the Eagles past the Top 40 RPI team. Jenkins drew Winthrop within one point at halftime with a 30-foot buzzer-beater and led a 50-point second half offensive explosion to get the victory. The win also had the Eagles on the cusp of entering the Top 25 national polls, as Winthrop was No. 31 in the AP poll an 29th in the Coaches poll. WU also rose to No. 2 in the Mid-Major Poll, where it would stay the rest of the season.
On Feb. 20, Winthrop officially clinched its third-straight Big South regular-season championship with its 72-60 victory over High Point, then capped off the first undefeated season in League history at 14-0 with its 83-68 win at Coastal Carolina in the season finale. Winthrop would enter the 2007 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men’s Basketball Championship with a 25-4 record and home court advantage throughout the Conference Tournament. After dropping No. 8 Charleston Southern and No. 5 UNC Asheville, Winthrop survived upset-minded No. 6 seed VMI, 84-81, to clinch its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance. It also was the 28th win of the season, setting a Big South single-season record for most wins.
With its Tournament championship, Winthrop became the first men’s basketball program in Big South history to be ranked in the national Top 25. The Eagles were rated No. 22 in the March 5 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. Meanwhile, head coach Gregg Marshall was named a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year and the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year award. He would later be honored as the Durham Coach of the Year recipient, as well as the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District III Coach of the Year.
Selection Sunday was the next date circled on the calendar, and 1,750 fans turned out to the Winthrop Coliseum to find out the Eagles’ NCAA Tournament seed and opponent. Winthrop drew a No. 11 seed – the highest for a Big South member, and No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the first round in Spokane, Wash., on Friday, March 16. It was also the first time that Winthrop would play in a Friday-Sunday regional in the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles opened up a 32-28 halftime lead to as many as 20 points at 54-34 as they outscored the Fighting Irish, 22-6 in the opening 6:45 of the second half. But a six-minute drought led to a 29-8 Notre Dame run that put the Irish ahead, 63-62 with 2:21 left in the game. Bradshaw quickly regained the lead for Winthrop at 64-63 on a layup off a feed from Jenkins, and the Eagles regained their composure the final two minutes and outscored the Irish, 12-1 in the final 2:09 to capture the 74-64 historic win. It was the first win for Winthrop and the Big South Conference in the first round, and was Marshall’s 194th win, becoming the Big South’s all-time winningest coach. Bradshaw and Martin combined for 44 points -- Bradshaw scored a game-high 24 points, while Martin had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Winthrop’s win over Notre Dame was later nominated as a “Pontiac Game Changing Performance” during the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Winthrop’s “Sweet Sixteen” dream ended in the second round to eventual Elite Eight participant Oregon, 75-61. Martin had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort. Winthrop’s win streak was snapped at 19 and its season ended at 29-5. Following the magical season, Gaynor was named Collegeinsider.com’s Mid-Major MVP, Bradshaw was tabbed an All-American by the organization, Martin was invited to the NABC All-Star Game during Final Four weekend, and Martin and Bradshaw were selected for the prestigious Portsmouth Invitation Tournament. Marshall was honored as Collegehoops.net Mid-Major Coach of the Year, and the team finished the season ranked No. 22 in the final Associated Press and Coaches polls.
The 2006-07 Winthrop Men’s Basketball Team is one of the Top 25 “Best of the Best” moments in League history. The Conference is conducting an online fan poll to help determine the Top Moment in the first 25 years of the Big South Conference. Voting is open on www.BigSouthSports.com and continues through March 25. Fan voting will be combined with the 25th Anniversary Committee’s votes to come up with the official rank order of the “Best of the Best” moments. The countdown will be unveiled at the concluding 25th Anniversary banquet in May.
(Portions of this profile provided by Winthrop’s Media Relations Office).
Next week’s final “Best of the Best” moment and vignette: Liberty’s Women’s Basketball Championship Dynasty.
