The 2016–17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team represented

Winthrop University Winthrop University is a public university in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was founded in 1886 by David Bancroft Johnson, who served as the superintendent of Columbia, South Carolina, schools. He received a grant from Robert Charles Winthrop, ...

during the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic, and ended with the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona on April 3, 2017. Practices officially began on September 30, 2 ...

. The Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach

Pat Kelsey Patrick Kelsey (born May 15, 1975) is an American college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at the College of Charleston. Playing career Kelsey played high school basketball at Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati ...

, played their home games at the

Winthrop Coliseum Winthrop Coliseum is a 6,100-seat multi-purpose arena in Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was built in 1982 and is home to the Winthrop University Eagles basketball and volleyball teams. The facility accommodates conventions, trade shows, concerts, ...

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...

as members of the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

. They finished the season 26–7, 15–3 in Big South play to finish in a tie for the regular season Big South championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big South tournament, they defeated

Charleston Southern Charleston Southern University (CSU) is a private Baptist university in North Charleston, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). History Charleston Southern University was ch ...

, Gardner–Webb, and

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first bid since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. In the NCAA Tournament, they lost in the first round to

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

. After the season, head coach Pat Kelsey initially left Winthrop on March 21, 2017 to take the head coaching job at UMass, but backed out 2 days later for personal reasons and returned to the program.

Previous season

The

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

finished the 2015–16 season 23–9, 13–5 in Big South play to win a share of the regular season conference championship. They defeated

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and Gardner–Webb to advance to the championship game of the Big South tournament where they lost to UNC Asheville. Despite the regular season conference title and 23 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Big South tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team Winthrop Eagles men's basketball seasons Winthrop Winthrop 2017 in sports in South Carolina 2016 in sports in South Carolina