Gregg Marshall

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Gregg Marshall is the current head coach at Winthrop University.

1 Background
2 Education
3 Career
4 Accomplishments
5 External Links
6 References

[edit] Background

Born in Greenwood, SC, he was hired to coach Winthrop in April, 1998.

[edit] Education

Gregg Marshall graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a B.A. degree in Economics/Business in 1985. He later received his Master's degree in Sports Management from the University of Richmond in 1987.

[edit] Career

In his nine seasons as head coach, Marshall has led the Eagles to seven NCAA tournament appearances and transformed a previously undistinguished program into a mid-major powerhouse. In his first season at Winthrop, the 1998-99 season, he compiled a record of 19-8, 9-1 in Big South Conference play, giving the Eagles their first regular season Big South title. They went on to win the Big South Conference Tournament, earning the Eagles their first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a 16 seed, the team lost to the #1 seed Auburn Tigers in the first round, 80-41.

Since his first season at Winthrop, Marshall has led the team to regular season titles six times, won the Big South Tournament five times, has had five 20-win seasons, was named Big South Coach of the Year three times, and in 2006, surpassed Nield Gordon as the all-time winningest coach in Winthrop men's basketball history.

In the 2006-07 season, Marshall became the first coach in the history of the Big South Conference to have his team go undefeated in conference games. In 2007, he also became the first Big South coach to win an NCAA tournament game by defeating 6-seed Notre Dame.

Prior to coming to Winthrop, Gregg Marshall spent two years, 1985-87, as an assistant at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia and was an assistant at Belmont Abbey College during the 1987-1988 season. He then spent eight years under John Kresse at the College of Charleston from 1988 to 1996, where the program received an at-large 1994 NCAA bid, NIT invitations in 1995 and 1996. In 1996, he became an assistant coach at Marshall University until being hired by Winthrop in 1998.

[edit] Accomplishments

Big South Coach of the Year

1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007^[1].

Regular Season Titles

1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Big South Conference Tournament Champions

1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007

NCAA Tournament Appearances

2007 (11) vs. (6) Notre Dame (Won 74 - 64)

(11) vs. (3) Oregon (Lost 75 - 61)

2006 (15) vs. (2) Tennessee (Lost 63 - 61)

2005 (14) vs (3) Gonzaga (Lost 74 - 64)

2002 (16) vs. (1) Duke (Lost 84 - 37)

2001 (16) vs. (16) Northwestern State (Lost 71 - 67)

2000 (14) vs. (3) Oklahoma (Lost 74 - 50)

1999 (16) vs. (1) Auburn (Lost 80 - 41)

The 2006 NCAA Tournament matched up Winthrop against second-seeded Tennessee, the SEC Eastern Division champion. Winthrop led for much of the game, only to lose 63-61 on a long jump shot with 2.9 seconds remaining. ^[2]

Gregg Marshall's success at the mid-major level created a lot of speculation that he could be a contender for the coaching position at North Carolina State University, which was vacated with the release of Herb Sendek. The hype only increased after big name coaches such as West Virginia University coach John Beilein, former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, University of Texas coach Rick Barnes, and University of Memphis coach John Calipari all turned down the position. Sidney Lowe, a former assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, was eventually named the head coach of the Wolfpack.

Marshall accepted an offer to coach the College of Charleston in June, 2006 but changed his mind after the press conference introducing him as coach and returned to Winthrop. Many compared this decision to Bobby Cremins' decision to leave Georgia Tech in 1993 for the University of South Carolina, only to change his mind and return to Georgia Tech. In an ironic twist of fate, the College of Charleston eventually hired Bobby Cremins as the new coach.