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, expectations are always high as the team goal is to win the Big South Conference Championship and that never changes. "We will never lower our expectations of competing for a championship."

Kelsey came into his first season with an enthusiasm 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 injuries 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 defined. The fact that there is much more competition for minutes has definitely made for extremely competitive practices."

BACKCOURT
    
This will be an area of great depth for the Eagles 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 the arc in 2012-13, has the ability to play both guard positions and with the absence of Henry and Moore, could see a log a lot of minutes. His 58 triples led the team and were a career-high. Smith showed signs of being an offensive threat as he recorded a career-high 26 points at James Madison as well as managing 20 points in a win over Charleston Southern in the regular season. He finished in double-figures 12 times.

Senior Christian Farmer came off the bench in all 26 games he played last season and is one of the top outside scoring threats in the league. Perhaps his best performance came on Dec. 22 at Auburn in which he scored 13 second half points including four threes to help Winthrop to a 74-67 victory. He finished that game with a season-high 15 points and scored in double-figures six times.

The point guard position is likely to be occupied by junior Brandon Vega, who missed all of last season after knee surgery. Vega is over a year in recovery and Kelsey noted he looked good physically in preseason. Vega transferred to Winthrop from Snow Community College in which he was an all-conference performer known as a skilled passer with the ability to score. Vega has the speed and quickness to allow the team to push the ball up and down the court more often this season.

The newest faces to guard position will be sophomore Carlin Bremner and freshmen Keon Johnson and Hunter Sadlon. Bremner is a walk-on transfer from Central Arkansas where he saw action in 23 games and averaged 2.7 points in 2011-12. He proved he has the ability to score when he posted a career-high 17 points against Northwestern State on Jan. 14, 2012. Sadlon is also a walk-on that played his high school ball at Turpin in Cincinnati, OH.

Johnson fits the mold of a quick, athletic guard that should gel nicely with Kelsey's "downhill" philosophy. Johnson attended Mansfield High School where he was named the All-Ohio Player of the Year three times. Kelsey says Johnson is tough and "has a knack for scoring the basketball."

FRONT COURT

Senior Joab Jerome returns as the most seasoned player on the team in a position that has a little more depth this season than last. Jerome emerged as the go-to-player down the stretch in 2012-13 after the injuries to the starting line-up. In the opening round of the Big South Conference Championship, the Eagles needed  basket in the final seconds of the overtime game against Radford and Jerome delivered to help the Eagles advance on his lay-up with 1.5 to play in the game. Kelsey describes him as a "jack of all trades type of player that does whatever is necessary for our team."

Jerome finished 2012-13 averaging 10.7 points and 4.9 rebounds, but over the final 11 games he averaged 14.8 that included two 20-point games as he scored in double-figures in the final nine games.

One of the key injuries the team suffered last season was to junior Larry Brown, who missed the final seven regular season games before returning from some brief action during the conference championship. Brown is a very active player on the court and provides the team with a defensive presence rebounding the ball and blocking or altering shots. He averaged 5.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game last season, his first as a starter. He is one of the few players on the team with experience playing in the post.

The other experienced post player for the Eagles is junior James Bourne, who suffered a knee injury in the opening minutes against Radford on Mar. 5 that kept him out the remainder of the conference tournament. Bourne put in solid minutes for the team last season at 25.1 per game with 28 starts in 30 games. He averaged 5.9 points per game last season and was very efficient on the offensive end at 62 percent from the floor.

Senior Donovan Carter and sophomore Tevin Prescott also return from last year's team but saw limited action. Carter played in five games while Prescott saw limited time in six games.  

Four freshmen expecting to make an impact on the front line for the Eagles are Jarad Scott, Josh Davenport, Ivan Saicic (pronounced Even Sigh-Itch-Itch) and Duby Okeke (pronounced Oh-Kay-Kay).

Scott is a true power forward type at six-foot eight-inches and shoots the ball very well. Kelsey likes his combination of skill and size and says "he has a nose for the ball from a rebounding perspective."

Davenport is more of a wing type forward with very good size, versatility and ball skills. Kelsey isn't just excited about what Davenport brings to the team offensively, but feels he could be "an elite defender in our system."

Last season Davenport was named the Greater Catholic League Player of the Year after averaging 13.1 points, 3.0 assists and 6.0 rebounds as a senior.

Saicic is another good sized player that will likely play out on the wing. He's described by Kelsey as having a very good basketball feel, skill level and size. Saicic has shown good vision and passing ability and very good ball skills.

Okeke is more of a true center and is expected to be a strong defensive presence. Okeke suffered a leg injury a few weeks back and isn't expected to be back in action until late November, early December. As a senior he averaged 10 points, 8.6 rebounds and 5.3 blocks in 31 games. "He is a natural shot blocker and explosive finisher around the basket," said Kelsey.

SCHEDULE

Kelsey has laid out a solid non-conference slate to get the Eagles prepared for Big South action this season.

Fans will have the chance to see the team in seven home games prior to the start of league play. It will be the most  home games before starting conference play since the 1999-2000 season.

Winthrop's non-conference home games against NCAA Division I opponents include USC Upstate, James Madison, Appalachian State and Wofford College. James Madison played in the NCAA Tournament last season and won its opening round game over LIU-Brooklyn.

Winthrop will travel to a couple of hostile environments when it travels to Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and Dayton. The Eagles will also face Hampton, East Tennessee State, and North Carolina Central on the road.

Among the Winthrop's opponents are nine teams that finished averaging 70 or more points in 2012-13 and three of which finished among the Top 40 in the country in scoring; Virginia Military Institute (78.2, 4th), VCU (76.9, 34th), and Charleston Southern (73.8, 39th). The Buccaneers also finished second in the nation in three-point field goals made while VMI was 4th and VCU was 34th.

Winthrop finished 2012-13 ranked 47th nationally in defensive scoring by holding opponents to 61.2 points per game. Of its opponents this year, three others finished among the Top 50 nationally as North Carolina Central was 11th (56.7ppg), Wofford College was 23rd (59.1) and Gardner-Webb finished 41st allowing 60.8 ppg

Kelsey expects this year's squad to vastly improve on its 6-10 mark from a year ago in the Big South. "Obviously, High Point and Charleston Southern are the early preseason favorites because they are the reigning champions in the respective divisions and the fact that they have key players returning. The league as a whole I feel is wide open which will make for some extremely intense battles come January. The youth of our team will gain experience as the season progresses and I am excited about its potential."