ROCK HILL, S.C. — Winthrop starts its men’s basketball season with an early wake-up call, meeting Queens at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon.
Winthrop has taken six straight games against the Royals and leads the overall series 6-2. They met in the same event last season, and Winthrop won 81-74. No Winthrop team has ever opened a season this early; the old mark was last year’s Nov. 3 start.
Last season Winthrop won 23 games for the second year in a row and again reached the Big South championship game. The roster has 11 new players, including one freshman and ten transfers.
Atlantic Sun coaches expect Queens, from Charlotte, to win the league, slotting the Royals at No. 1 in their preseason vote. Three all-conference choices are back: Nasir Mann, Jordan Watford and Avantae Parker, whom the coaches tabbed as the top defender in the league before the season. Coach Grant Leonard has called Winthrop a local rival that knows his team well.
Graduate transfer Corbin Pack joins the Royals from Wingate, where he made 45.1 percent of his 3-point tries, fifth best nationally.
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