Winthrop center Logan Duncomb rediscovers his passion for basketball after a tumultuous break, helping propel the Eagles in their bid for an NCAA Tournament spot.
ROCK HILL, S.C. β Winthrop Coliseum is full of NCAA Tournament banners, but can make room for a few more
“I’ve been pleased to watch our team grow,” coach Mark Prosser said, βthe biggest thing with this group is the resiliency and the unselfishness.”
Prosser has won at least 20 games in three of his five seasons and hopes this is the year the Eagles make their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance.
Four players on the team average in double figures, and Winthrop is in second place in the Big South.
“I think those teams that are having fun and winning and playing for one another are teams that can do something special down the stretch,β he said.
Having fun is a big part of the program’s philosophy. It’s something that center Logan Duncomb needed to learn how to do it again.
Β Like many Winthrop Eagles before him, the 6-foot-10 center bounced around college basketball, but found a hoops home in Rock Hill.
“I feel very accepted from them,β he said. βThey seem to enjoy me. They seem to enjoy the effort I give them and I enjoy giving them that effort.”
Duncomb had previous stops at Indiana and Xavier, but the ball he can’t seem to put down these days? He put it away, walking away from the sport for a year.
“It was a really tough time,β Duncomb said. βI had to really figure out myself and what I wanted for myself and what I wanted to do. If I really even loved the game.”
Now, Duncomb is having a blast as one of the top players in the conference, second in the league in scoring and rebounding.
After saying he once found the game miserable, he’s found joy in it again here.
βI love gameday,β he said. βThat’s when it matters. That’s when you put stats up. People are watching you. You can get buckets and win games.”
If the Eagles make it to March, he could become a well-known name for all college basketball fans.
“You can’t watch him play and not see the fun he’s having out there,β Prosser said. βI genuinely feel like it should be more of a national story.”
A return to the national tournament would just about guarantee that.
And Duncomb wants to deliver that to Eagles fans.
βHaving a place again, having direction, having something I love that I’m good at, it meant a lot to me,β Prosser said. βIt feels good to pick this ball up again.”
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