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Roger Toxey is the first to admit he was one frustrated basketball player following his freshman season at Winthrop back in 1997-98.   

The team went 7-20 and Roger was asked to play the point guard position, a role he had only done once in his senior year at Sun Valley High School in Monroe, N.C.  

Then things changed. Gregg Marshall took over the program. Then Tyson Waterman returned after a year away to run the point. That allowed Roger to move back to the off-guard and defensive-stopper role.  

He soon became a key figure in Marshall's game plan, doubling his scoring output to 11.7 points per game and drawing the toughest defensive assignment night after night.   

Like other members of that 1998-99 team, Roger said he knew early on that Marshall was building something special.  

"He pushed us like we had never been pushed before," Roger said. "Then we got off to a good start and we began to get more and more confidence.   

"I think when we beat Radford (70-56), it was big because they had been winning the conference the previous couple of years, and when we beat them at home, I think we knew we had something special going."  

These days, Roger lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and is a sales representative for Prudential Overall Supply, a uniform rental company.  

Though Roger was a driving force behind Winthrop's 19-7 regular-season record, his biggest impact on Winthrop's program came during the Big South Tournament semifinals and finals.     

Toxey had a severely inflamed throat when the Eagles arrived in Asheville, NC. He left his room just long enough to attend the awards banquet and accept his All-Conference second-team plaque.  

The day before the Eagles played Charleston Southern in the semifinals, he was in bed with a 102-degree temperature. When he arrived at the Asheville Civic Center he was convinced he wouldn't play.  

It was extremely cold in the arena because the basketball court was put down over an ice rink. When the team came out to warm up, Roger was wearing a long-sleeve shirt and shivering.  

"When we came back to the locker room he told me he didn't think he could go," Marshall told a Rock Hill Herald reporter. "But the closer it got to showtime, he was talking about playing."  

Roger's name was called when the starting lineups were announced, and he responded with 10 points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of play.  

In the championship game against Radford, Roger played 27 minutes and scored 10 points.  

"I really don't know how I played," Roger said. "But coming from 7-20 and being two wins from going to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history I was going to play."