Mark Prosser was hired as head coach on Apr. 2, 2021, making him the 7th head coach in Winthrop men’s basketball history.
In Prosser's five seasons at the helm of the Eagle program, he's guided the program to three 20-win seasons and three Big South Conference title games.
The Eagles turned in their second 23-win season under Prosser during the 2025-26 season and the 10th season in program history with at least 23 wins. Along the way he reached 100 career wins at Winthrop, becoming the 2nd Winthrop coach in Big South history to reach 100 wins in his first five seasons. Prosser was the third fastest to 50 conference victories in Big South history. Prosser earned his 100th career win on Nov. 15, 2024 as the Eagles defeated William & Mary 86-85 on a buzzer beater.
Prosser was voted the 2026 Big South Co-Coach of the Year after guiding the Eagles to a 21-10 regular season record and 13-3 mark in league play. In his five seasons the Eagles have produced the Big South Player of the Year in 2025-26 (Logan Duncomb) and 2021-22 (D.J. Burns Jr.). Prosser has coached 11 Big South All-Conference selections and three players have been named to the NABC All-District Team (Duncomb/Kelton Talford/Burns Jr.).
During the 2025-26 season the Eagles won 12 straight games, the second winning streak of 10 or more under Prosser. The streak tied for the sixth longest in program history. After setting free throw records in 2024-25, the Eagles were at it again in 2025-26 as the team broke the record for free throws made all-time (670 and free throws per game (19.71). Winthrop was second nationally in both of those categories. The Eagles continued to be one of the top scoring teams in the country at 83.65 ppg (24th in the nation). There were six games the Eagles hit the century mark, tying the program record for six 100-point games in a single-season set the prior year (2024-25).
Once again the Eagles were tough at home, posting a 13-1 mark at the coliseum. The last two seasons the Eagles are a combined 29-3 at home and are 63-12 all-time at home under Prosser. The 16 home wins in 2024-25 were tied for the most by an Eagle team in program history with the 2004-05 squad that was 16-0 that season.
In 2024-25 season he guided the Eagles to their second 23-win season during his tenure. The team also advanced to the Big South Championship game before falling to top-seeded High Point. That team broke the program record for points per game (84.7), total points (2,879), free throws made (648) and free throws attempted (970). Winthrop also led all of NCAA D1 in free throws made and attempted per game.
In 2023-24 the Eagles battled their way through injuries that led to 11 different starting lineups, finishing the season 17-15. The team was one of the most aggressive teams in the nation and it showed with the second-most free throw attempts in program history (856). The Eagles also converted the second-most free throws made in a single-season at 601. Winthrop finished first in the nation in free throw attempts per game at 26.8.
For the second time in three seasons the Eagles had nine non-conference victories, which included an 85-68 victory at Little Rock and 90-87 win at Coastal Carolina.
The Eagles battled through a injury-riddled 2022-23 and finished the season 15-17 overall and 10-8 in the Big South. In his first season with the Eagles he guided them to the Big South Conference Championship game and a 23-win season. The 23 wins were the most by any coach in program history in their first season. It was the third time a first-year head coach won 20 or more games. He joined Gregg Marshall as the only coaches in program history to begin conference play 5-0 in their first season. On Nov. 27, 2021 he led the Eagles to the program’s first ever win over a PAC-12 opponent with an 82-74 victory at Washington. The Eagles posted a 13-0 home record, just the third time in program history a team finished with a perfect record at home.
Prior to his return to Winthrop as head coach, Prosser spent three seasons as the head coach of the Western Carolina men’s basketball program and is no stranger to Winthrop. In April of 2012, Prosser was hired as an assistant coach under Pat Kelsey and then served as Associate Head Coach from August of 2013 until his departure to Western Carolina in the spring of 2018.
Before departing for Western Carolina, Prosser played a role in helping bring the Winthrop men’s basketball program back to the top of the Big South Conference, which was achieved when the Eagles captured the 2017 Big South Conference Championship and returned to the NCAA Tournament.
“My family and I could not be more excited to come home to Winthrop University and the Rock Hill community,” said Prosser. “We’d like to thank Dr. Halpin, Dr. Hynd, the Board of Trustees and the entire Winthrop community for entrusting us with one of the most prestigious college basketball programs in the country.”
In just his second season at the helm of the Catamounts program, Prosser led the team to a 12-win improvement to finish the season at 19-12. It was the second-most improved mark across NCAA Division I men’s basketball. That season the team reached the Southern Conference semifinals before falling to eventual champion ETSU. That season Prosser’s achievement was recognized by College Insider as he was honored as the Skip Prosser ‘Man of the Year’ award, which is named after his father.
Winthrop has been one of the top three-point shooting teams in the Big South Conference and nationally over the last 5-6 years and Prosser’s teams in three seasons averaged 9.15 threes per game, which included a program record for a single-season with 302 in 2019-20. In 2018-19 the team set the program record for threes in a single-season, which now sits as the second-most.
Prosser began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Wofford College in Mike Young’s first season (2002-03). During that season the Terriers posted a 14-15 mark, which included a 79-77 victory at Virginia Tech. In the Southern Conference, Wofford posted an 8-8 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
Following his year at Wofford, Prosser headed to Bucknell as an assistant from 2003-08 under Pat Flannery.
It was at Bucknell that Prosser experienced the most post-season success as the Bison scored two NCAA Tournament upset victories during his tenure. In 2005, the 14th-seeded Bison upset No. 3 Kansas in the first round, earning the award for “Best Upset” at the 2005 ESPY Awards, and finished the year ranked 25th overall nationally with a 23-10 record. The following season, No. 9 seed Bucknell defeated No. 8 Arkansas in March Madness.
In 2005-06, the Bison went undefeated in Patriot League play, the first team to do so in conference history. The team was ranked in the top 25 for the first time in school history and featured Patriot League Player of the Year Charles Lee. For the NCAA Tournament, the Bison were seeded 9th and defeated Arkansas in the first round. In the second round they were defeated by Memphis to end the season at 27-5, the best record in school history.
While at Bucknell, Prosser signed 2008 Patriot League All-Freshman team selection Todd O’Brien and was involved in the player development of Charles Lee, who went on to sign a professional contract with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Lee was a three-time All-Patriot League selection and the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year.
In the summer of 2008, Prosser returned to the sidelines at Southern Conference-member Wofford. During his first season back in Spartanburg in 2008, the Terriers set a school record with 12SoCon wins. In addition, the team posted its first winning overall record since moving to the NCAA Division I level. The following year, Prosser helped Wofford reach a school-record 26 wins along with the Southern Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
All told, with Prosser on the bench in Spartanburg, the Terriers posted a 63-36 (.636) overall record, highlighted by back-to-back SoCon regular season and tournament championships, and consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He helped Wofford to a then school-record 26 victories in 2009-10 with a second 20-win season in 2010-11 with a squad that led the SoCon in assists and was also first in assist/turnover margin. Wofford also was eighth in the nation in 3-point percentage and 12th in overall field goal percentage.
Prosser was instrumental in the development of three-time first-team All-SoCon selection Noah Dahlman, a post player who scored more than 2,000 career points and was twice dubbed SoCon Tournament MVP.
A native of Wheeling, W.Va., Prosser played collegiately at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., before a knee injury ended his career prematurely. He began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at Marist until his graduation in 2002, helping the Red Foxes to a share of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title in 2001-02.
Prosser and his wife Emily are the parents of two -- a daughter, Ava Grayce and a son, Declan.
