Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop men's basketball looks to extend its win streak Saturday night when it welcomes long time rival Coastal Carolina to the Winthrop Coliseum.
WINTHROP (7-3, 0-0 Big South)
| WINTHROP PROBABLE STARTERS |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
Noteworthy |
| G |
11 |
Kasen Harrison |
6-2 |
Sr. |
14.4 |
3.1 |
3.4 |
1.2 |
'23-24 Big South Preseason All-Conference / Surpassed 400 career assists (414) / In double-figures for 9-of-10 games, including a 24 point performance vs. Georgia Sou. / Season-high 6 assists vs. NCCU |
| G |
3 |
Paul Jones III |
6-3 |
Fr. |
8.1 |
3.3 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
Career-high 25 points vs. Averett / Was 6-of-8 behind the arc / 8-for-12 behind arc last 2 games / Has four games in double-figures / 4 rebounds or more in six games |
| G/F |
10 |
Nick Johnson |
6-4 |
Sr. |
8.9 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
1.5 |
Season-high 20 points in win at Queens / Ranked 5th in Big South with 1.5 spg / multiple steals in 4 games, at least 1 steal in 9-of-10 games played |
| F |
12 |
K.J. Doucet |
6-7 |
Sr. |
14.3 |
6.0 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
24-25 Big South Preseason All-Conference / In double-figures all 10 games / Surpassed 1,400 career points with 17 vs. LIU / had five 20-point games in '23-24 / 2nd on team with 51 threes last season |
| F |
4 |
Kelton Talford |
6-7 |
Sr. |
15.0 |
7.4 |
0.7 |
1.4 |
'23-24/'24-25 Big South Preseason All-Conference / '22-23/'23-24 Big South All-Conference First Team / 15th career double-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds vs. LIU / Moved into 3rd on the all-time rebound list (745), now 5th in career points (1,474) |
* (blocks per game)
GAME DAY PRESENTED BY VISIT YORK COUNTY
Visit York County is the presenting game sponsor and celebrating the launch of the Eagles Nest inside the Winthrop Coliseum, which is a beer garden with representation of craft beers from different breweries around York County. The beer garden is located on the concourse in section 105. The first 250 purchasers of a beer will get a Eagles Nest Shirt. The beer garden is open for all men's basketball games and select women's basketball games. Along with the beer garden will be "Big Stuff Bites" which is a food hall lineup that allows fans to enjoy food from some of Winthrop Athletics parters including Freddy's Steakburgers, Two Scoops Rock Hill, Pelicans Snoballs and Spin Theory Cotton Candy.
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: 41-45
Series Streak: W1
Record at Winthrop Coliseum: 23-14
Streak at Winthrop Coliseum: L2
Prosser vs. Coastal Carolina: 1-0
- Winthrop and Coastal Carolina continue their rivalry that formed in the Big South Conference and meet for the 87th time
- Eagles won the last meeting, 90-87 at Coastal last season but the Chanticleers lead the all-time series 45-41
- Coastal has won six of the last eight matchups, two of those wins coming in the Winthrop Coliseum
- Of the 86 meetings all-time, 20 of the games have been decided by five or fewer points and 44 have been decided by fewer than 10 points
WINTHROP AT HOME
- Eagles are 6-1 at home this season after the 99-56 win over Averett on Nov. 27
- Sitting 4-0 at the Winthrop Coliseum and 2-1 inside the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center
- In seven home games the Eagles are averaging 91.9 ppg
- Have won 11 of the last 12 at home vs. non-conference opponents
- Finished the 2023-24 with an 11-5 mark in home games
- Have 11 or more home wins in 11 of the last 12 seasons
- Hold an all-time record of 484-178 and 432-165 at the Winthrop Coliseum
- Since 1998-99 the Eagles are 306-70 at home
- As an NCAA D1 member the Eagles are 403-149 in home contests
WINTHROP
- Have won three straight after earning an 86-78 victory at Queens on Dec. 3
- Senior Nick Johnson dropped in 20 points to help the Eagles to their first road win of the season
- It was Johnson's first 20-point game this season and 8th of his career as he's now averaging 8.9 ppg on the year
- Eagles got to the foul line 34 times at Queens and are now ranked 2nd nationally in free throw attempts per game at 31.8
- Eagles hosted the Rock Hill Classic Nov. 15-17 and came away with a 2-1 record
- Opened the weekend with a thrilling 86-85 victory over William & Mary as Bryce Baker buried a three at the buzzer
- The win over William & Mary was the 100th career victory for head coach Mark Prosser
- It also marked the 800th win all-time in program history
- Eagles dropped the second game, 89-87 to Georgia Southern as that game came down to the final seconds
- Capped off the weekend with a 77-75 victory over North Carolina Central
- This was the first time the Eagles have been involved in three consecutive games decided by a single-possession since Nov. 10-14, 2019 vs. Fresno State (3), St. Mary's (2) and ETSU (3)
- First loss of the season and only road game so far came on Nov. 11 with a 58-52 loss to Virginia Tech
- It was the second-fewest points the Eagles have ever held an ACC opponent to (57 vs. N.C. State on 12/3/96 is the lowest)
- Opened the season with a 125-65 victory over Piedmont, the second-largest margin of victory in program history (+60)
- In the game the 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
- First 2-0 start since 2021-22 after an 82-67 victory over Little Rock at home
- Winthrop dominated the glass for a second straight game, finishing with a 52-32 advantage
- Eagles as a team rank 1st in the conference in scoring (84.2 ppg) and 5th in scoring defense (71.4)
- Eagles also lead the league in scoring margin, field goal percentage defense (.405), rebounding offense, blocks per game, steals per game, turnover margin, defensive rebounds per game, and offensive rebounds per game
- Kasen Harrison is now the top scorer on the team after the win at Queens as he's averaging 14.4 ppg
- Kelton Talford and K.J. Doucet are right behind Harrison at 14.3 ppg
- All three are ranked among the Top 11 scorers in the Big South
- Doucet ranks 4th in the Big South in field goal percentage (.583) and Talford ranks 5th (.582)
- Talford posted his 16th career 20-point game in the win over N.C. Central with 22 points
- He also had 10 rebounds in the game for his 14th career double-double
- Then posted an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double in the win over LIU
- Voted to finish second in the Big South Conference preseason poll
- Eagles had two players on the preseason all-conference teams
- Talford was voted to the first team and Doucet was voted to the second team
- This marks the 1,420th game in program history and hold an all-time record of 804-615
- Winthrop has more wins than any other Big South school (247) since the 2012-13 season and the closest is Gardner-Webb and Radford with 213
- Mark Prosser starts his fourth season as head coach of the Eagles (8th head coach in program history) and holds a 62-44 record now in his fourth season
- Prosser earned his 100th career win on Nov. 15 vs. William & Mary, which was also his 100th game coached at the helm of the Winthrop program
- Prosser is coaching in his 225th career game and 196th 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 went over 1,300 points in the game vs. Averett (1,325)
- Surpassed 400 career assists (414) as he's dished out 263 as an Eagle
- Played in his 100th career game on Mar. 2, 2024 vs. Gardner-Webb
- Is now 3 starts away from 100 in his career (currently 111 games played)
- Kelton Talford
- Reached the 1,000 points and 500 career rebounds in 2023-24
- Has 1,474 career points, ranking 5th all-time in scoring at Winthrop
- His 745 career rebounds are now ranked 3rd all-time
- Is the 39th player in Big South history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds
- Became the 104th player in Big South Conference history to reach 500 career rebounds
- Became 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 14 career double-doubles after his 22 points, 10 rebounds against N.C. Central on Nov. 17
- Has 571 career free throw attempts, ranking him 2nd all-time in program history after passing Mark Hailey (543) and trails the all-time leader Keon Johnson by 39
- Nick Johnson
- Reached 1,000 career points in the win at Radford last season and is now eight points from 1,000 (1,133)
- Reached 400 career rebounds vs. UNC Asheville in 2023-24 and is now at 461
- 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 (2023)
- Moved past 1,400 points in his career (1,436)
- Is two rebounds away from the 1,000 point/500 rebound club (498)
- 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 vs. his former team (Piedmont)
- Currently sitting with a career total of 1,420 points
- Has 338 career assists, 419 career rebounds and 159 career steals
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
The Eagles remain in Rock Hill, but will move their next home contest over to the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center near downtown to take on Bob Jones on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. Winthrop Coliseum will be unavailable due to December graduation ceremonies.
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).
