Winthrop Men Picked 3rd In Big South: 3 Named All-Conference
Concord, N.C. – The annual Big South Conference Basketball Media Day took place on Tuesday at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Convention Center. The preseason polls and all-conference teams highlighted the day’s festivities.
Winthrop men’s basketball was voted third in the preseason poll and landed three players on the preseason all-conference teams. The Eagles were two votes behind Radford for second as UNC Asheville is the preseason favorite, taking 16 of the 19 first-place votes. Radford, Winthrop and High Point received the other first-place votes
Senior Kelton Talford was voted to the preseason all-conference first team while senior’s Kasen Harrison and Sin’Cere McMahon were voted to the second team.
Talford was a first team selection last season after leading the Eagles in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.2). He finished fourth in the Big South in scoring and second in rebounding. Talford did lead the league in field goal percentage (.669), which was the second-best in a single-season by a Winthrop player. His field goal percentage finished 6th nationally.
Harrison averaged 11.5 ppg and finished third in the conference with 3.8 apg. He set career-highs in assists and surpassed the 260 career mark. Harrison scored two game-winning buckets with under eight seconds to play last season (vs. UNC Asheville and vs. Longwood).
McMahon was 3rd on the team in scoring last season (13.4) and set career-high’s in a number of categories including points, points per game, three-point field goals made, free throws made, free throw percentage and assists. He posted a career-high 35 points at UNC Asheville last season and finished with eight games scoring 20 or more points.
2023-24 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
First-Team
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville (Preseason Player of the Year)
Kelton Talford, Winthrop
DQ Nicholas, Gardner-Webb
DaQuan Smith, Radford
Bryan Antoine, Radford
Second-Team
Kasen Harrison, Winthrop
Justin Bailey, USC Upstate
Taje’ Kelly, Charleston Southern
Trae Broadnax, USC Upstate
Sin’Cere McMahon, Winthrop
