Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball looks for a second straight win as it welcomes Little Rock to the Winthrop Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 9 for its "Homecoming Game".
WINTHROP (1-0, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS (Players Returning/Stats From 2023-24) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
2 |
Ryan Jolly |
6-3 |
Gr. |
15.0 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
2.0 |
Was 5-of-8 from the floor in the opener and had 15 points |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Sr.. |
14.0 |
1.0 |
4.0 |
0.0 |
'23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / Nearing 400 career assists (384) at Asheville |
| G/F |
12 |
K.J. Doucet |
6-4 |
Sr. |
13.0 |
6.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
'24-25 Big South Preseason All-Conference / 2nd on team in scoring last year / had five 20-point games in '23-24 / 2nd on team with 51 threes |
| F |
15 |
Tommy Kamarad |
6-10 |
Sr. |
7.0 |
7.0 |
0.0 |
1.0* |
Solid numbers in the opener with seven points, even rebounds |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Sr. |
17.0 |
9.0 |
1.0 |
1.0* |
'23-24/'24-25 Big South Preseason All-Conference / '22-23/'23-24 Big South All-Conference First Team / led team in scoring and rebounding in each of the last two seasons / Moved into 6th on the all-time rebound list (677) |
* (blocks per game)
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: 2-0
Series Streak: W2
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 0-0
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: n/a
Prosser vs. Little Rock: 1-0
- Eagles and Trojans meet for the 3rd time but for the first time in Rock Hill
- The two teams squared off in Little Rock, Ark. last season as the Eagles prevailed, 85-68
- The first meeting came in 2020 at the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic in Louisville, Ky.
- Eagles captured that meeting in a close game, 80-75
WINTHROP AT HOME
- Defeated Piedmont 125-65 for a 7th straight home opening victory
- Have won six straight at home vs. Non-Conference opponents
- Finished the 2023-24 with an 11-5 mark
- Have 11 or more home wins in 11 of the last 12 seasons
- Hold an all-time record of 479-177 and 429-165 at the Winthrop Coliseum
- Since 1998-99 the Eagles are 301-69 at home
- As an NCAA D1 member the Eagles are 398-148 in home contests
WINTHROP
- Opened the season with a 125-65 victory over Piedmont, the second-largest margin of victory in program history (+60)
- In the game they Eagles also hauled in 63 rebounds, tying a program record with 28 offensive rebounds
- Ryan Jolly, who transferred to Winthrop after a four-year career at Piedmont, started the opener against his former team and finished with 15 points
- Looking for first 2-0 start since 2021-22
- Voted to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll
- Eagles had two players on the preseason all-conference teams
- Kelton Talford was voted to the first team and K.J. Doucet was voted to the second team
- This marks the 1,410th game in program history and hold an all-time record of 798-612
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (241) since the 2012-13 season and the closest is UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb with 209
- Mark Prosser starts his fourth season as head coach of the Eagles (8th head coach in program history) and holds a 56-41 record now in his fourth season
- Prosser is three wins away from his 100th career victory (97)
- Prosser is coaching in his 216th career game and 187th at the NCAA D1 level
- Led the team to 23 wins, the most by a first-year head coach in program history
- Prosser tied Towson State's Terry Traux (1992-93) for the most conference wins by a first-year coach with 14
- The newcomers include five transfers and one true freshman
- The transfers are Ryan Jolly (Graduate Student/Piedmont), Tommy Kamarad (Senior/Arkansas Tech), Tai Hamilton (Sophomore/William & Mary), Logan Duncomb (Junior/Xavier) and Bryce Baker (Junior/Old Dominion)
- The one true freshman is Paul Jones III, a guard out of Suffolk, Va.
- Jolly scored more than 1,000 points in his career at Piedmont
- Kamarad started 28-of-30 games last year and was named to the Great American Conference All-Tournament Team as his team captured the championship
- Baker played in 59 games in his first two seasons at Old Dominion
LOOKING BACK AT 2023-24
- Winthrop returns four starters with all of them being the Top 4 scorers from 2023-24
- Leading the way is two-time Big South All-Conference selection Kelton Talford
- Talford led the team in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (5.7)
- K.J. Doucet, Kasen Harrison and Nick Johnson are the remaining returning starters
- Doucet was second on the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg and second in made threes (51)
- Harrison led the team in assists at 3.8 per game (ranked 3rd in Big South) and also averaged double-figures (11.3)
- Johnson was fourth in scoring at 10.4 ppg and led the team with 44 steals
- Johnson's ranked 4th in the league at 1.4 per game and was the first Eagle with 40 or more steals in a single-season since Chandler Vaudrin had 45 in 2019-20
- Yoro Diallo and Noah Van Bibber also return as Diallo played in 28 games and Van Bibber saw action in 18 games
- Eagles finished 8-8 in the Big South, finishing fourth in the standings
SEASON HONORS/AWARDS
- Kelton Talford, Senior-Forward (Big South Conference Preseason First Team)
- All-Big South First Team Selection in 2022-23 and 2023-24
- Started 28-of-31 games as he led the team in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (5.7)
- Ranked 13th in the Big South in scoring and 11th in rebounding while leading the conference in field goal percentage
- K.J Doucet, Senior-Forward (Big South Conference Preseason Second Team)
- Started 30-of-32 games and was second on the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg
- Second on the team in three-pointers made (51) and field goals made (129)
CAREER MILESTONES
- Kasen Harrison
- Reached 1,000 career points last season and enters 2024-25 with 1,181
- He reached 350 career assists and closing in on 400 (384)
- Played in his 100th career game on Mar. 2, 2024 vs. Gardner-Webb
- Kelton Talford
- Reached the 1,000 points and 500 career rebound plateau's in 2023-24
- Enters 2024-25 with 1,348 career points, ranking 9th all-time in scoring at Winthrop
- His 677 career rebounds rank 6th all-time and trails 5th place by 15
- He became the 104th player in Big South Conference history to reach 500 career rebounds
- Beame the 67th player in league history to join the 1,000/500 club
- He became the 65th player in league history to reach 600 rebounds
- Became the 48th player in Big South history with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds
- Has 13 career double-doubles after his 15 points, 10 rebounds against PC on Feb. 21
- Has 518 career free throw attempts, ranking him 6th all-time in program history
- Nick Johnson
- Reached 1,000 career points in the win at Radford last season (1,049)
- Reached 400 career rebounds vs. UNC Asheville in 2023-24 and is now 11 rebounds from 450
- Dished out his 100th career assist vs. Queens and surpassed 100 steals
- K.J. Doucet
- Surpassed 1,000 career points after 22 points at Coastal Carolina and reached 1,100 vs. Toccoa Falls and reached 1,200 in the win over Charleston Southern Feb. 7
- Just surpassed 1,300 career points (1,036) and also has 444 career rebounds
- His 51 threes in 2023-24 were a career-best for a single-season
- Ryan Jolly
- Scored 1,371 career points in his collegiate career between Piedmont and Lander
- Had 15 points in the opener for a career total of 1,386
- Has 332 career assists, 413 career rebounds and 154 career steals
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Get your men's basketball season tickets TODAY! Season tickets are $149 for 18 home games, which includes the games played in the Rock Hill Classic at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center (Nov. 15-16). Purchase Today–
Click Here.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ARE ON SALE
Fans can purchase single-game tickets for all home contests for the 2024-25 season by visiting
www.winthropeagles.com/MBBTickets2425 or call text ticket office at (803) 323-2345.
25th ANNIVERSARY
This year celebrates the 25
th anniversary of the 1999-2000 team that captured a second straight Big South Conference championship. Under the guidance of second-year head coach Gregg Marshall the Eagles posted an overall record of 21-9 and were 11-3 in the conference (2
nd place). Winthrop defeated fourth-seeded UNC Asheville 75-62 in the Big South title game and faced 3
rd-seeded Oklahoma in Tucson, Ariz. in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
TUNE IN TO THE EAGLES
Fans can listen to the games all season long on OTS Media of Rock Hill (94.3 FM), which is the flagship station for Winthrop Athletics. In addition, most games will simulcast on 730 ESPN Charlotte and AM 1450 WGNC Gastonia.
All home games as well as all Big South games home or away are available to watch through the Big South Network on ESPN+. To watch live Big South games on ESPN+, you need a subscriber. ESPN is currently offering a discount between Oct. 25-Dec. 2 to get 12 months for the price of nine. For more information how to subscribe,
click here.
UP NEXT
Eagles have a quick turnaround for their first road game as they head to Blacksburg, Va. on Monday, Nov. 11 to take on Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.
To keep up with the latest news on the Winthrop men's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter (@Winthrop_MBB), Instagram (@Winthrop_MBB) and Facebook (/WinthropMBB).
