My 2026-27 Big South Men’s Basketball Predictions

Media Day is on Wednesday (Oct. 14), so here’s how I think the Big South will look by the time this is completed

Regular Season Standings Prediction:

1. High Point (15-1)
2. Winthrop (13-3)
3. Presbyterian (10-6)
4. Longwood (9-7)
5. UNC Asheville (8-8)
6. Charleston Southern (5-11)
7. Radford (5-11)
8. USC Upstate (4-12)
9. Gardner-Webb (3-13)

It is becoming more and more difficult to try and predict what will happen in the Big South, as most of the teams have overhauled their rosters tremendously from last season. High Point is the obvious favorite, coming off their most successful season (including an appearance in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament), and having the deepest and most talented roster in the league. That program has done a good job of keeping players happy and productive when many of them could be getting more minutes in other places. Can they do it again this year?

I am optimistic about this year’s Winthrop team, despite having to replace just about all of the production from last year, as I feel like Mark Prosser and the staff are figuring out the types of players that work well in their system and finding guys in the portal to fill those specific. PC is the team that returns the most from last year, and I think that will help the Blue Hose, but will it be enough to push them from middle of the pack to the upper tier? Longwood and Asheville are tough for me to figure out at this point…so I stuck them in the middle. I think most people will be surprised at me picking Radford to finish 5-11. And maybe that’s a little low, but that team did not play up to its talent level last season, and the roster this year doesn’t look nearly as impressive on paper as last year’s did. Maybe the chemistry will be better this time around, but this coaching staff needs to prove it to me first.

Big South Tournament Prediction:

First Round:
#8 UPST over #9 GWU

Quarterfinals:
#1 HPU over #8 UPST
#4 LW over #5 AVL
#3 PC over #6 CSU
#2 WU over #7 RAD

Semifinals:
#1 HPU over #4 LW
#2 WU over #3 PC

Championship:
#2 WU over #1 HPU

Looking at WU MBB’s 2026-27 Non-Conference Schedule

Winthrop’s schedule was released today. So here is a look at the 2026-27 non-conference opponents:

Non-Conference Opponents
–Queens (Nov. 2) – at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center; Last season’s rankings: POM 186/NET 192; Once again, Winthrop will open the season in an early morning game at the Sports & Event Center in Field of 68’s Opening Day Marathon. This time around, the Eagles won’t have the very first game of the season, but they’ll still be playing in a stand-alone game with the attention of the college basketball sickos on a Monday morning. Like last season, WU will face Queens. The Eagles won last year’s matchup, but the Royals are coming off an NCAA tournament appearance and are one of the favorites to win the Atlantic Sun this season.

–North Dakota (Nov. 7) – Last season’s rankings: POM 279/NET 271; WU hosts the Fighting Hawks in Rock Hill, getting a return game after the Eagles travelled to North Dakota last season in a blizzard, falling on a last second shot. This time around, Winthrop will have two former UND players on their roster, as Anthony Smith and George Natsvlishvili transferred to WU in the offseason.

-@ Kennesaw State (Nov. 10) – Last season’s rankings: POM 149/NET 147; Winthrop will travel to Kennesaw State, facing the Owls for the first time in program history. KSU is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance and likes to play fast, so expect a high scoring affair when these two teams battle each other. The Owls are expected to be one of the top teams in Conference USA this season, so this first road game will be a difficult test for the Eagles.

–Jackson State (Nov. 14) – Last season’s rankings: POM 340/NET 347; WU faced JSU last season in Jackson, MS, and came away with a 80-62 victory. This year, the Tigers come to Rock Hill as Winthrop’s Homecoming opponent. Jackson State will be in their first season under new head coach Trey Johnson, as Mo Williams left the Tigers to become an assistant at Kentucky during the offseason.

–Chattanooga (Nov. 18) – Last season’s rankings: POM 301/NET 288; Winthrop will host Chattanooga, as these two programs will face each other for the first time ever. The Mocs are coming off an atypical rough season, but they’re coming into 2026-27 as a potential contender in the SoCon. Just two years ago, Chattanooga won the NIT, so Dan Earl knows how to lead a winning team.

-@ Wofford (Nov. 21) – Last season’s rankings: POM 251/NET 246; Despite only 65 miles separating the two schools, this will be the first time in 13 years that Winthrop and Wofford will play against each other. WU will travel to Spartanburg to face a Terrier team that took a slight step back after making the NCAAs in 2025, but are consistently one of the better programs in the Southern Conference.

-@ Illinois (Nov. 23) – Last season’s rankings: POM 5/NET 5; WU only has one scheduled game against a power conference opponent, and it is against one of the top teams in the nation. The Eagles will travel to Illinois, and face a Fighting Illini team that returns quite a few key pieces off of a Final Four team. One of the biggest wins in Winthrop history came in the only other matchup between these programs, as the Eagles won 84-80 in OT 10 years ago, led by Keon Johnson’s 38 points…perhaps the most impressive individual performance in program history.

–Clinton (Nov. 28) – Non-D1 Opponent; WU’s first non-D1 opponent will be Clinton, which will mark the second straight year that the Eagles will host their crosstown neighbor. Winthrop beat the Golden Bears, 107-41, in last season’s game.

-@ South Carolina State (Dec. 2) – POM 356/NET 356; This will be the 7th meeting between WU and SC State, but this will be the first time that these two teams will face each other in Orangeburg since 1992. The Eagles beat the Bulldogs, 101-79, last year.

-@ Coastal Carolina (Dec. 5) – Last season’s rankings: POM 247/NET 226; Winthrop will be looking for revenge, as Coastal won a pair of close games between these squads last season. The Eagles will only face the Chants once this season, though, and this year’s game will be in Conway.

–Bob Jones (Dec. 8) – Non-D1 Opponent; It’s now becoming routine for Bob Jones to visit Rock Hill, as this will be the fourth consecutive season that the Bruins will face the Eagles. Last year, WU beat Bob Jones, 101-55.

-@ Utah State (Dec. 12) – Last season’s rankings: POM 27/NET 25; Illinois may be the power conference opponent on WU’s schedule, but Utah State has the potential to be a ranked team when this game comes around. The Aggies had to hire new coach yet again (their fourth coaching change in the last seven years), but there’s no reason to believe that Utah State should fall back at all, as Ben Jacobson will now lead them, coming off a great tenure at Northern Iowa. They are expected to be right there with Gonzaga as one of the favorites of the new-look Pac-12, and the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is always one of the tougher environments in the nation. This will be the first ever meeting between these programs.

-@ Wyoming (Dec. 14) – Last season’s rankings: POM 95/NET 97; Two days after facing Utah State, WU will have to go Laramie, WY, and deal with a Wyoming team that appears to be on the rise, and also deal with 7,220 feet of elevation. The Eagles have only been to Wyoming once before, losing to the Cowboys back in the 2003-04 season by 30 points. Hopefully this matchup will go better for Winthrop as they look for the program’s first win over a Mountain West opponent.

-@ North Texas (Dec. 16) – Last season’s rankings: POM 136/NET 135; WU finishes their grueling road trip in Denton, TX to face a North Texas squad that could be a contender in the American Conference (no longer the American Athletic Conference) this season. These programs have faced each other once before, with the Mean Green beating the Eagles back in the 2002-03 season.

–Toccoa Falls (Dec. 21) – Non-D1 Opponent; WU gets to return home after that road trip to face a pair of non-D1 opponents around Christmas. The first of those will be against Toccoa Falls. WU beat the Screaming Eagles last season, 111-62.

–Morris (Dec. 28) – Non-D1 Opponent; The last non-conference game of the season will be against Morris College. These two programs faced each other often when Winthrop was an NAIA program, but this will be the first time in 41 years that the Eagles will battle the Hornets.

There will also be 2 exhibition games this season. The Eagles will host Appalachian State at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center on October 17. Then Winthrop will head to Statesboro, GA to face Georgia Southern on October 24.

An Early Look at the 2026-27 WU MBB Team

It’s been another chaotic spring in the transfer portal, but I think things are stable enough to take a look at the Winthrop MBB team that will take the court this fall. This will give you a rundown of the current roster and a deeper look at the new players, leading to the Meet the Team event on Thursday, June 25.

ROSTER

Things could still change, but while Winthrop does not have a 2026-27 roster posted on the website, they did make social media posts that listed jersey numbers for 15 players (which is the maximum roster size), so this appears to be the team that we’ll see in November when the Eagles take the court for their first game.

Here’s a run-down of the roster by class:
Seniors: Tai Hamilton, Henry Harrison, Cam Christy, Tee Harris, Kyle Morgan
Juniors: Seifeldin Hendawy, George Natsvlishvili, Micah Davis, Eesher Singh Sarai
Sophomores: Spence Sims, Anthony Smith, Keshawn Fisher, Tyler Parrish
Freshmen: Kaleb Evans, Joel Cwik

The Eagles had seven scholarship seniors last season that had no remaining eligibility (Kareem Rozier, Kody Clouet, Ed Nnamoko, Daylen Berry, Pharrell Boyogueno, Josh Meo, and Tommy Kamarad). WU also had three players enter the transfer portal. Logan Duncomb transferred to Notre Dame, while Isaiah Wilson and Braylhan Thomas are also hoping to transfer, but their final destinations are unknown as of now.

The seven departing seniors and three players that have transferred out left ten open roster spots for the Eagles to fill, and here are the newcomers that have joined the team:

Micah Davis (click the link to see highlights) is a 6’2″ guard from Greenwood, Indiana. Davis started his collegiate career at Eastern Kentucky for one season, before transferring to IU Indy last year. Last season, he played 25.3 minutes/game for IU Indy, averaging 9.4 ppg, dishing out 2.9 apg, and getting 1.2 steals/game. Despite being 6’2″, he was able to shoot 53.6% from 2PT range.

George ‘Guga’ Natsvlishvili is a 6’10” forward from Tbilisi, Georgia (the country, not the US state). Guga spent the last two seasons at North Dakota. Last year, he played 19.2 minutes/game, scoring 8.0 ppg, and grabbing 4.9 rebounds/game. He had the best offensive rebounding percentage in the Summit League last season, and also was very good at getting to the FT line, drawing 5.6 fouls per 40 minutes.

Spence Sims is a 6’1″ guard from Fairhope, Alabama. Sims started his career as a walk-on at Alabama two seasons ago, but did not play for the Crimson Tide. He then spent last season at Gardner-Webb, earning the Big South’s Freshman of the Year award. He played 24.5 minutes/game, averaging 9.9 points/game, hitting 43% from three, making 2.2 threes/game.

Anthony Smith is a 6’1″ guard from Hopkins, Minnesota. Smith played his freshman season at North Dakota last year. He came off the bench for the Fighting Hawks, averaging 17.7 minutes/game. Smith scored 7.8 ppg and dished out 2.3 assists/game. Like Micah Davis, despite his height, he was very efficient from 2PT range, hitting 54.1% of his shots from inside the arc. And in Summit League play, he had the 5th best assist rate (23.3%) and 4th best FT% (88.9%) in the league.

Keshawn Fisher is a 6’7″ wing from Detroit, Michigan. Fisher played his freshman season in his hometown last season, playing for Detroit Mercy. He played in 20 games, averaging 11.5 minutes/game, but did not play in the last 12 games of the season. In the action he did see, he averaged 5.5 ppg and 2.2 rpg, hitting 54.4% of his shots from 2PT range and 82.4% from the FT line.

Tee Harris is a 6’7″ forward from Mineral, Virginia. Harris played the last three seasons at D2 Wheeling University. In his junior season, he averaged 14.4 ppg and 6.4 rpg for the Cardinals. On the defensive end, he averaged 1.3 spg and 1.8 bpg. Harris shot 65.5% from 2PT range last year as well.

Kyle Morgan is a 6’4″ guard from Houston, Texas. Morgan played his first two seasons at the JUCO level for Angelina College, before playing his junior season at D2 UT-Tyler last season. Last year, he averaged 11.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg, shot 38.4% from three, and 85.0% from the FT line.

Tyler Parrish is a 6’3″ guard from Chesterton, Indiana. Parrish played his freshman season at D2 UIndy last season. As a freshman, he scored 13.9 ppg and dished 2.5 apg, shooting 39.9% from three and 81.1% from the FT line.

Eesher Singh Sarai is a 6’9″ forward from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. He has played his first two collegiate seasons at the JUCO level for Ellsworth CC. As a sophomore, he averaged 11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 1.2 bpg while shooting 59.4% from 2PT range.

Joel Cwik is a 6’4″ wing from Poland. He has spent the last few years playing in Germany’s third division league for OrangeAcademy. In his latest season, he averaged 13.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, shooting 35.5% from three.

The newcomers will be joining five returnees. Tai Hamilton, Saif Hendawy, Kaleb Evans, Henry Harrison, and Cam Christy are the returning Eagles.

What does NCAA Tournament Expansion mean for Winthrop?

The long rumored expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament from 68 teams to 76 now appears to be nearing reality, effective this upcoming season (read the details here). If the expected plan comes through, there will be 12 ‘opening round (or play-in)’ games in the tournament, leading to a field of 64 on the first Thursday of the NCAAs. Half of those play-in games will involve the bottom 12 at-large teams, and the other half will involve the bottom 12 automatic bid teams.

So the obvious impact to teams like Winthrop, is that there is a much better chance of being in a play-in game than in prior years. And I’ve heard some fans, some teams, and some conferences say that they like being in the play-in round. But I don’t like it at all. Winthrop has been in that round twice (in 2001 and 2010), and while the experience was tainted by losing those games, I still don’t think the experience would have been that great if the Eagles had won. For me, part of the fun of making it to the NCAA tournament is that build up to the first round game, and that chance to knock off one of the top teams in the nation. Instead, you feel rushed to get to Dayton (or wherever the play-in games will be), you have to play a team that’s at a similar level of what you are, just to hopefully win and then have to rush to a new city to face one of the top teams in the nation on limited rest and prep time. Proponents like to say it is good because you have a better chance at a tournament win, which is true, but to me, what matters more is how far you advance in the tournament. And being happy to win just to make it to the Round of 64 doesn’t seem right to me. A win in that play-in round would not compare at all to winning a game in the Round of 64. Another thing that proponents like about the play-in round is that if you win, you get a tournament share (meaning extra revenue for your league). Yes, that part is nice, but now the effect of that gets watered down as more teams/leagues than before will get that, so it isn’t like that extra sum of money is going to be program changing for anyone.

But this tournament expansion plan doesn’t just make it more likely that Winthrop would be in a play-in game if they win the Big South Tournament, but even in years where they are good enough to avoid the play-in round, the Eagles will now have a tougher first round matchup, as all automatic bid teams that wouldn’t have gotten an at-large bid are essentially pushed down a seed line.

To see the impact of this change, I’m going to show you what WU’s prior 11 NCAA Tournament appearances would have looked like if the 76-team field had been in effect in those years. This will show how much things will change going forward for future Winthrop teams that make it into the NCAA field if this expansion happens as expected:

1999 as it happened (64-team field): WU was a #16 seed and faced #1 seed Auburn in the first round, losing 80-41.
1999 with a 76-team field: WU would have been in a #16/#16 play-in game against Florida A&M, Mt. St. Mary’s, or UTSA for the right to play a #1 seed like Auburn. The Eagles would have possibly not even gotten a chance at facing a ‘big boy’ team.

2000 as it happened (64-team field): WU was a #14 seed and faced #3 seed Oklahoma in the first round, losing 74-50.
2000 with a 76-team field: WU would have been in a #15/#15 play-in game against Hofstra, Iona, or Appalachian State for the right to face one of the #2 seeds (Cincinnati, St. John’s, Temple, or Iowa State). It was exciting for WU to get a #14 seed that year, but in this format, the Eagles would have had to play a play-in game and even if they won, would have faced a tougher opponent.

2001 as it happened (65-team field): WU was in a #16/#16 play-in game against Northwestern State for the right to play #1 Illinois, losing 71-67.
2001 with a 76-team field: No change…WU would have been in the same situation, though possibly slotted with a different #1 seed.

2002 as it happened (65-team field): WU was a #16 seed and faced #1 seed Duke in the first round, losing 84-37.
2002 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have been in a #16/#16 play-in game against either Boston U or Holy Cross for the right to play Duke or one of the other #1 seeds.

2005 as it happened (65-team field): WU was a #14 seed and faced #3 seed Gonzaga in the first round, losing 74-64.
2005 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have either been in a #15/#15 play-in game or possibly been in the field of 64 as a #15 seed without having to play a play-in game. Instead of playing Gonzaga in an entertaining, competitive game, they would have had to play-in to have the right to play a #2 seed, or would have directly played a #2 seed, which that season included Oklahoma St, Wake Forest, Kentucky, and UConn.

2006 as it happened (65-team field): WU was a #15 seed and faced #2 seed Tennessee in the first round, losing 63-61.
2006 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have been in a play-in game, either a #16/#16 game to play a #1 seed, or possibly a #15/#15 game, for the right to play Tennessee or one of the other #2 seeds.

2007 as it happened (65-team field): WU was a #11 seed and faced #6 seed Notre Dame in the first round, winning 74-64. Then the Eagles advanced to the second round, falling to #3 seed Oregon, 75-61.
2007 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have likely still been a #11 seed, as they already were seeded higher than a couple of at-large teams. So the matchup would have likely been the same. And if WU had lost to VMI in the championship game, we’re not sure if the Eagles would have been an at-large team in a 65-team field, but I think it would have been safe to say that WU would have made it in if it was a 76-team field, though they would have likely been in a play-in game against another one of the final at-large teams if that was the case.

2008 as it happened (65-team field): WU was a #13 seed and faced #4 seed Washington State in the first round, losing 71-40.
2008 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have avoided a play-in game, but they would have been either a #15 or #14 seed instead of a #13 seed, having to face a #2 or #3 seeded team in the first round instead of Washington State.

2010 as it happened (65-team field): WU was in the #16/#16 play-in game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff for the right to play #1 seed Duke, losing 61-44.
2010 with a 76-team field: No change.

2017 as it happened (68-team field): WU was a #13 seed and faced #4 seed Butler in the first round, losing 76-64.
2017 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have dropped to a #14 seed and would have faced one of the #3 seeds (Oregon, UCLA, Florida State, or Baylor).

2021 as it happened (68-team field): WU was a #12 seed and faced #5 seed Villanova in the first round, losing 73-63.
2021 with a 76-team field: The Eagles would have dropped to a #13 seed and would have faced one of the #4 seeds (Purdue, Oklahoma State, Florida State, or Virginia).

So instead of two play-in games in program history, if this 76-team format was always a reality, the Eagles would have been in six or seven of them. Likely missing out on a Round of 64 game at least a couple of more times (given that most play-in round games are close to 50/50 matchups). And even in the years where WU would not have been a play-in team, except for the 2007 team, they would have been at least a seed line lower, having to play a tougher opponent than they did. The reality appears to be that we need to expect more play-in appearances than we’ve had in the past, and tougher Round of 64 opponents any time the Eagles make it to the NCAA Tournament in future years, unless they can put together a season like they did in 2007, which as we all know, is very difficult to do.

And this goes across the board for teams that make it to the NCAAs from the Big South. Every other Big South team other than Winthrop that qualified for the NCAA tournament would have been in a play-in game except for possibly 2022 Longwood (who would have either been one of the #15/#15 play-in game teams or possibly a #15 seed facing a #2 seed instead of the #14 seed that they got), 2025 High Point (who would have been a #14 seed instead of a #13 seed), and 2026 High Point (who would have been a #13 seed instead of a #12 seed…would they have won that first round game if they had to have played Arkansas or one of the other #4 seeds in the first round instead of #5 Wisconsin?). Except for the rare case where Winthrop (or another Big South team) would be in contention for one of the at-large spots, this expansion will not be a good thing for teams in the league if their hope is to advance beyond the Round of 64 or further. The road will immediately be more difficult, and in most years, will include a play-in game.

Basketball is Simple Sometimes

(I spent 10 hours driving in the car in the last 24 hours, so this will be a pretty brief recap of today’s game)

I can get lost in the numbers and analytics of sports sometimes, and there’s a lot of value in the data to analyze what teams’ strengths and weaknesses are. But at its core, basketball is about getting the ball into the basket more than your opponent. In Sunday’s Big South Championship game, Winthrop struggled to score at times, especially from behind the three-point arc (24.2%) and from the free throw line (58.1%). In contrast, High Point hit big threes when they needed to (45.5%), and were great from the FT line (84.4%). While there are many other things you can look at and point to, those are the numbers that best explain how High Point came up with the 91-76 win over Winthrop.

But the result of the championship game should not discount what this Winthrop team was able to accomplish this year. They won 20 D1 games, finished 13-3 in conference play, got to the championship game of the tournament, and were a fun, resilient team to watch. This team had 9 newcomers, but looked like a connected unit from the start of the season. Yes, there were ups and downs (as just about every team has those), but it was a season that included many highlights, some incredible comebacks, and exciting moments.

High Point looks to be positioned to be one of the league favorites for the foreseeable future given their resources and facilities, but Winthrop can continue to be in the mix, though Coach Prosser and the staff will likely have to bring in a large batch of newcomers yet again with so many seniors on this year’s roster. But we have plenty of time in the offseason to discuss that. Instead, I hope Winthrop fans appreciate what they saw with the group of guys that were on this year’s team. Logan Duncomb’s season was already memorable, but his ability to come back after his late season injury was one of the more remarkable things I’ve seen since following this program. Seeing incoming transfers like Kareem Rozier and Kody Clouet come in and become immediate leaders and impact players was impressive to see. It’s always tough when the season ends earlier than anyone wants it to, but this was a fun team to watch and I’m glad I was able to make the trip to Johnson City to support the program today. Winthrop Ever Stand!

Championship Sunday

The opportunity to cut down the nets and get into the NCAA Tournament has come yet again for the Winthrop program. This is the 41st Big South Men’s Basketball Tournament, and this will be the Eagles’ 20th appearance in the championship game. More impressively, this is Winthrop’s 18th trip to the title game in the last 28 tournaments. These appearances never get old, and they should never be taken for granted. But the big question is…..will the Eagles be able to win their 14th tournament championship on Sunday afternoon in Johnson City?

For most of the season, it has looked like we would get the Winthrop/High Point championship rematch. The Panthers won the 2025 tournament, as the Eagles could not hold onto a 15-point lead in the second half. Once again, High Point brings a great team to Johnson City. They are looking like they’ll be only the fourth program in the league’s history to finish in the top 100 of KenPom. They went 15-1 in conference play. They bring a 13-game win streak to Sunday’s game. But their one conference loss came to the Eagles, and Winthrop has the Big South Player of the Year. Logan Duncomb had big outings in both meetings with HPU this season, and while he’s not at 100%, he is still playing well enough to give High Point big problems.

Duncomb is the big piece to this game. It is amazing he has even been able to play in this tournament after getting injured only 11 days ago. But while his minutes have been purposely limited in the first two rounds, he has been very effective when he has played. How much he can play, and how effective he can remain, will obviously be big factors as to Winthrop’s ability to come away with a victory.

But it can’t all fall on Duncomb. He needs to get help, and you have to think the Kareem Rozier, Kody Clouet, and probably one other player (at least) need to have productive offensive games in order for the Eagles to match High Point’s offensive firepower. WU has collectively not been a good three point shooting team this year (this is likely going to be the worst 3PT shooting Eagles team in 13 seasons), and the team hasn’t shot the ball well so far in the tournament. But it is difficult to imagine Winthrop winning on Sunday without hitting at least 35% of their threes, and I’d say it probably needs to be 40%+ for WU to have its best chance. And Winthrop needs to play well on the glass and limit turnovers, especially to keep High Point from being able to get easy baskets in transition.

This won’t be easy. High Point is favored to win. High Point is one of the hottest teams in the nation. And Winthrop ‘s best player isn’t 100%. But this Winthrop team has been resilient, and has done really well when their back has been against the wall. I think Duncomb’s desire to avenge last year’s defeat is obvious, so he will do all he can. And I think a couple of other big performances will emerge from the rest of the roster…enough to give Mark Prosser his first NCAA Tournament team.

My prediction: Winthrop 80, High Point 75

The Magic of March

For Winthrop fans, there’s no shortage of memorable moments and games in the Big South Conference tournament, and the list of memorable Winthrop tournament games grew once again on Friday afternoon with the Eagles’ 86-81 win over Charleston Southern in the quarterfinals. Typically, a 5-point win as a #2 seed over the #7 seed would be looked at as underwhelming, even if you’ll take tournament wins however you can get them. But this wasn’t merely a 5-point win….

The Winthrop program under Prosser is typically very tight-lipped about injuries, so it didn’t surprise me that there had been no official proclamation about Logan Duncomb’s status after his injury last Thursday at CSU, but I think it is safe to say that most people didn’t expect him to be available for the rest of the season. On Senior Day, he was in a boot and using a scooter to avoid putting any weight on his foot. But Duncomb not only was able to play in the quarterfinal game, but he was the best player on the court, and he made the most of his 16 minutes, scoring 20 points, grabbing 11 boards, and dishing out 3 assists. He looked like his normal self when he was on the court, but when he checked out, you could see him noticeably limp, and he had a huge ice bag on his foot after halftime, when it looked like he may not even return to the game, but he did return and ended up making the go-ahead basket with 16 seconds left.

Saying that Duncomb scored the go-ahead basket doesn’t quite tell the whole story, though. Charleston Southern controlled the game most of the way. They led by as many as 11 points in the first half before Winthrop reduced it to a one-possession game at the half. But then the Bucs got their lead back up to 11 again in the second half before Winthrop made a big run to take the lead midway through the half. But the Eagles couldn’t hold onto that lead, and CSU had the game almost locked up as they went up by 7 points with 45 seconds left. The Eagles even missed their next shot, but Duncomb got the rebound, kicked the ball out to Josh Meo, and Meo drilled a three to cut the deficit to 4 with 28 seconds left. Then the Eagles got a steal soon after the Bucs inbounded the ball, leading to a Kody Clouet layup and a foul (and he made the FT). Then WU picked up another steal, and Isaiah Wilson found Duncomb for a running layup to take the lead. WU would add four FTs in the final seconds, and the miracle comeback was complete.

Duncomb’s unlikely return (and not only returning, but being dominant) and the crazy comeback make this game legendary, no matter how the rest of the weekend goes. This Winthrop team has proven they can make crazy comebacks, and that they don’t get rattled when they fall behind. Will that be enough to get two more wins? That remains to be seen, but we’ll see what Duncomb has left in the tank and what Winthrop can do in the semifinals against Presbyterian on Saturday afternoon.

2026 Big South Tournament Preview

Note: Apologies for the lack of updates on this blog over the last week. I was on vacation and did not get to see much (if any) of Winthrop’s games against CSU and PC. Obviously the big news during that time is Logan Duncomb’s injury. I haven’t seen anything official about his status for the conference tournament, but I have a difficult time seeing him being able to play.

The Big South Tournament starts today (Wednesday) in Johnson City, TN. Here’s how I see it turning out:

QUICK TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS
FIRST ROUND:
#9 Gardner-Webb over #8 USC Upstate

I don’t really have a good reason to think GWU will win, but Upstate was the one D1 team they were able to knock off this season, so maybe they can do it again.

QUARTERFINALS:
#1 High Point over #9 Gardner-Webb
#4 UNC Asheville over #5 Longwood
#2 Winthrop over #7 Charleston Southern
#6 Presbyterian over #3 Radford

The only upset I have happening is PC over Radford. Radford has a talented squad, but I think Presbyterian has a little more balance, and I think Jonah Pierce will come up with a big performance.

SEMIFINALS:
#1 High Point over #4 UNC Asheville
#2 Winthrop over #6 Presbyterian

Chalk will hold in the semifinals, but I think both HPU and WU will be tested some.

FINALS:
#2 Winthrop over #1 High Point

Obviously, if Duncomb doesn’t play, the chances of Winthrop winning the title (or even getting to the title game) go way down, and as I said earlier, I’d be surprised if he is able to play. But I do think this Winthrop team has done well when their back has been against the wall this season, so I think they will figure out a way to surprise everyone by getting to the championship game and then come away with the upset victory in the finals. In order for that to happen, the Eagles will need to shoot the ball consistently well from outside in all three rounds, and they’ll need to be very good at limiting turnovers, as the rebound margin and free throw differentials will likely not be as favorable as they typically are when Duncomb is healthy. But behind a tournament MVP performance from Kody Clouet, Winthrop will win the tournament, and return to the NCAAs for the first time in 5 years.

Preview: WU @ Charleston Southern

2025-26 Winthrop Men’s Basketball Season – GAME #30 (BIG SOUTH GAME #15)

@ Charleston Southern Buccaneers
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 7:00pm EST
Buccaneer Field House, North Charleston, SC
WU (12-2 Big South record; 20-9 overall record; NET/KPI/SOR/WAB/BPI/POM/TOR Rankings: 126/125/104/99/136/135/158)
CSU (4-10 Big South record; 13-16 overall record; NET/KPI/SOR/WAB/BPI/POM/TOR Rankings: 258/288/285/287/261/256/267)

Livestats

Live Video – ESPN+

Live Audio – 94.3

Charleston Southern’s Profile

Head Coach: Saah Nimley (2nd season as head coach at CSU)

Possible Starters:

G Jacob Taylor, fr (6-3, 185) – 5.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 47.2 FG%, 37.7 3PT% (20 made threes), 76.5 FT% – 20.6 min/game

G A’lahn Sumler, jr (6-4, 200) – 19.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 49.0 FG%, 39.7 3PT% (52 made threes), 65.8 FT% – 30.2 min/game

F Jesse Hafemeister, sr (6-5, 200) – 12.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 45.4 FG%, 36.7 3PT% (61 made threes), 66.1 FT% – 25.8 min/game

F Nate Brafford, sr (6-9, 200) – 5.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 40.3 FG%, 35.5 3PT% (33 made threes), 60.0 FT% – 19.4 min/game

F Lase Olalere, so (6-11, 235) – 4.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg, 67.9 FG%, 0 made threes, 39.3 FT% – 15.6 min/game

Key Bench Players:

G Luke Williams, sr (6-0, 180) – 10.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.7 apg, 42.8 FG%, 38.0 3PT% (35 made threes), 70.0 FT% – 32.4 min/game – HAS MISSED LAST 9 GAMES. STATUS FOR THURSDAY UNKNOWN

G Brycen Blaine, jr (6-5, 205) – 17.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg, 40.4 FG%, 34.7 3PT% (74 made threes), 78.4 FT% – 28.5 min/game – HAS MISSED LAST 5 GAMES. STATUS FOR THURSDAY UNKNOWN

F Reis Jones, sr (6-10, 240) – 6.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 60.0 FG%, 0 made threes, 53.8 FT% – 18.3 min/game

G Armari Carraway, jr (6-0, 170) – 7.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 33.6 FG%, 33.8 3PT% (45 made threes), 69.0 FT% – 17.5 min/game

G Jaquias Franklin, sr (6-1, 180) – 2.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 30.6 FG%, 23.3 3PT% (10 made threes), 87.5 FT% – 13.9 min/game

F Trent Coleman, sr (6-7, 210) – 3.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 52.1 FG%, 44.0 3PT% (11 made threes), 75.0 FT% – 10.9 min/game

F Devin Brafford, so (7-1, 200) – 2.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 48.6 FG%, 20.0 3PT% (3 made threes), 52.6 FT% – 7.3 min/game – HAS MISSED LAST 3 GAMES. STATUS FOR THURSDAY UNKNOWN

The final stretch of the regular season has arrived, as there are two games left over the next three days, and Winthrop starts that stretch out at the BucDome, to face Charleston Southern on Thursday night. After the loss to High Point last weekend, the Eagles need a lot of help if they want to get the #1 seed, but regardless of if they end up in 1st or 2nd, these last two games give WU the chance to get back into the win column and build some momentum going into next week’s Big South Tournament.

In the first meeting between these teams, it ended up being a close game, with the Eagles winning 81-77. Winthrop really struggled shooting the ball from three and the FT line, but Logan Duncomb was dominant despite sitting most of the first half due to foul trouble. He finished the game with 26 points and both CSU centers fouled out in a combined 29 minutes. And has been the case often in recent years, the Bucs have become a bit shorthanded as the season goes along. Brycen Blaine, Luke Willias, and Devin Brafford have all missed games recently, and I’m unsure if any of them will play on Thursday. Those three combined for 27 points in the first meeting.

The biggest issue for the Eagles in this game will be containing A’lahn Sumler, who carved up the Winthrop defense in the first matchup (on his way too 22 points on 9 for 15 from the field) and the Eagles’ inconsistent shooting needs to be able to hit enough shots to help support the likely solid output from Duncomb. I think we’ll see the Eagles bounce back and play well after Saturday’s loss, and WU should be able to have enough depth to come through with the road win.

My Prediction: Winthrop 91, Charleston Southern 82

Other Big South games on Feb. 26:
High Point (14-1) @ Presbyterian (7-7), 7:00pm
UNC Asheville (7-7) @ Gardner-Webb (1-13), 7:00pm
USC Upstate (4-10) @ Radford (8-6), 7:00pm
Longwood (7-8) is off

Recap: WU @ High Point

2025-26 Winthrop Men’s Basketball Season – GAME #29 (BIG SOUTH GAME #14)

Final Score: High Point 89, Winthrop 87

Boxscore

High Point took control of the game early, leading by double digits barely five minutes into the game, and leading by as many as 17 in the first half. Winthrop cut the deficit to seven at the half, but fell behind by 16 with only 11 minutes left, before coming back to take the lead with just under six minutes remaining. But High Point hit some big shots late to end the Eagles’ 12-game winning streak, beating Winthrop 89-87 at the Qubein Center.

The positives:
-In the early stages of the game, WU was getting destroyed on the boards and had 6 turnovers while HPU had none. But the Eagles ended up finishing the game way ahead on the glass (18 offensive boards for the Eagles, only 9 for the Panthers) and won the turnover battle, 13-10. That led to the Eagles getting 18 more FG attempts than the Panthers.

-Logan Duncomb had another double-double. He scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

-Kody Clouet scored 20 points, hitting 4 of 8 from three. He also had 6 rebounds.

The negatives:
-Winthrop’s defense couldn’t get enough stops, with High Point shooting 66.7% from 2PT range and hitting 11 threes (at a 35.5% clip).

-The Eagles typically win the free throw battle, but HPU got 10 more FT attempts than Winthrop.

-Outside of Clouet, Winthrop struggled from beyond the arc. The team was 8 for 27 (29.6%), but if you take Clouet out of the mix, the rest of the roster was 4 for 19.

Final takeaways:
The Eagles got punched in the mouth early, but they did a great job of coming back. I’m not one that believes you need to lose a game after a long winning streak to get the team hungry again, but after now losing, it can definitely be a learning moment for Winthrop. However, the #1 seed is just about out of reach. WU would need to win out (winning at CSU on Thursday and at home against PC on Saturday), have High Point lose at PC on Thursday, and have Radford beat Longwood on Saturday (so that Presbyterian would finish ahead of Longwood, which Winthrop needs to win a tiebreaker at this point).

Next game:
WU @ Charleston Southern – Thursday, February 26, 7:00pm EST

Results around the Big South:
Longwood 107, Charleston Southern 96
USC Upstate 76, Presbyterian 74
UNC Asheville 74, Radford 73
Gardner-Webb had the night off

Current Standings:
1. HPU 14-1
2. WU 12-2
3. RAD 8-6
T4. PC 7-7
T4. AVL 7-7
6. LW 7-8
T7. UPST 4-10
T7. CSU 4-10
9. GWU 1-13

If the Big South Tournament started today (in Johnson City, TN):

First Round:
#9 Gardner-Webb vs. #8 Charleston Southern

Quarterfinals:
GWU/CSU winner vs. #1 High Point
#5 UNC Asheville vs. #4 Presbyterian
#7 USC Upstate vs. #2 Winthrop
#6 Longwood vs. #3 Radford