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jfl25

By jfl25
in South Carolina

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krazeeboi Gigalopolis

krazeeboi

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:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo:

They had me scared for a minute, losing that 20 point lead and all, but my boys managed to pull through! I really need them to MAKE FREE-THROWS, though.

Now we're waiting for the winners of the Oregon/Miami (OH) match-up.

But for now, we're savoring our first-ever NCAA tournament win! :alc:

Skyliner, did those Duke and GA Tech losses mess up your bracket?

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whitehourseview Burg

whitehourseview

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Winthrop University has gotten extremely positive exposure the past several weeks. The team should be very proud of what they did: first top 25 ranking in program history, first NCAA tournament win, another Big South title, this time being the first Big South team to go undeafeted in conference, etc. Tremendous year for the Eagles.

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teshadoh Burg

teshadoh

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Not as exciting - but Clemson is on to the second round after giving Ole Miss a whooping.

I know I complained about them after collapsing halfway through conference play, but they have 23 wins so far. Not bad at all. Maybe not the best of Clemson teams, but considering their history - this wasn't too bad of a year for them.

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GvilleSC Megalopolis

GvilleSC

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I was at the game last night. It was spectacular! There were a good many Syracuse fans in attendance, which made the Tiger fans that much louder. That was the most electrified crowds I've seen in Littlejohn ALL season! What a great way to play your last game at home! :tough:

10,000 in attendance with NO students on campus due to Spring Break. Oliver should be proud of what he's done at Clemson!!!

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Spartan Gigalopolis

Spartan

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You'd be suprised at how many students are still in town, but off campus (like me). I got to watch the last half of that game, and Syracuse really came back towards the end, and that suprised me. I will add that having two teams with orange as their main color can be a bit confusing :) Anyway, Clemson pulled through in the end. I hope they go ahead with our state's third NIT win!

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  • 4 weeks later...
whitehourseview Burg

whitehourseview

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WHAT!? Leaving South Carolina for Wichita, Kansas? That is awful. But I am assuming he prefers small colleges with little basketball success.

Don't know much about Wichita State basketball or their success, huh? The Missouri Valley Conference is a real good league, probably the 5th best in the nation. Wichita State isn't a small college, nor particularly awful.

I can see why leaving is a good decision for Marshall. I thought the South Florida job might be better for him, by putting him in the Big East, but I can see how the Wichita State would put him in a better place for success long term. Even Winthrop's players said they would have taken the job and don't blame him for leaving.

He really had peaked at Winthrop, and wasn't going to have a better season next year. So leaving now was really his last shot for moving up for the few years.

Coach Peele sounds like a good fit for Winthrop. I remember when he coached at UNC Greensboro and how aggresive his teams were. I remember being in the Winthrop Coliseum the night in '96 when he brought his team in and ran Winthrop off the court with speed and aggressiveness, before taking UNCG to the NCAA tournament.

Long term, Winthrop us just going to have to raise the financial profile of their athletic department to compete at higher levels. The Big South is as low as it gets in Division I basketball, and the league is just going to have to push for greater financial gaurantees all around, and attempt to become more than a one bid league.

Possible conference affliations that could help Winthrop in the future include the Colonial Athletic association (a good fit) or Conference USA (a real stretch at this point): http://kenpom.com/confrank.php?y=2007

Winthrop is of course a founding member of the Big South, with long standing ties going on several decades now. There are lots of regional connections to places like Coastal Carolina, UNC Asheville and now Presbyterian; so breaking that bond will be hard.

Long run: Winthrop really needs to raise its athletic financial profile, and that may not be possible until other campus infrastructure is finished. Due to its relatively recent coeducational status, and teacher's college mission, Winthrop by nature has not had a deep pocket donor pool. That should change over the next 10 - 15 years or so as the school's standing, which really started to improve after Phil Lader's leadership, should trickle down into a larger and deeper donor pool. Then the school can consider if a move to a better conference like the Colonial Athletic Association or Conference USA would work, with their greater competitive and financial pressures.

Short run: Winthrop needs to be very appreciative of Greg Marshall for boosting the athletic program into a higher orbit, something that was really unexpected, but he has created a culture of winning - which is very, very hard to do. Also, folks need to get behind Coach Peele as quickly as possible, not letting donations drop off, etc. He's a good coach and there is no reason why he shouldn't keep winning as he already knows the recruiting pipeline. Winthrop basketball will not be as good next year, probably a 10 loss team, due to losing three top players, so folks need to keep that in mind. Also other sports like baseball, which is having another good year, need support. The baseball team is a hitter and two good pitchers away from being college world series contenders.

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krazeeboi Gigalopolis

krazeeboi

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^That was some good info there. I think it's only a matter of time before the school really starts throwing its weight behind the athletic programs, which have been seeing a significant amount of success for the past few years. The reasons you gave concerning the school's history and mission are well-taken, and is probably why a football team isn't in sight anytime in the near future.

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