ESPN Men's Basketball

No. 7 Ohio State held off Winthrop 65-55 behind 21 points and 9 rebounds from Deshaun Thomas.

1. It’s really a shame that Kendall Marshall's last game was against Creighton in the third round and not Kansas in the Elite Eight. We never really saw the full potential of this Carolina team. Had Marshall been able to avoid injury then the Tar Heels would likely be in New Orleans competing for the title. But that’s the beauty as well as the cruelty of sports. Now Marshall is declaring for the NBA draft with John Henson and Harrison Barnes, too. Roy Williams has had three sets of elite teams in his brief time at North Carolina. Two of the three won titles in 2005 and 2009. This one was destined to win one, too. But it will always be remembered for what could have happened, instead of what they did -- finish a game short of the Final Four.

2. A decision on Butler going to the A-10 isn’t final yet, but all indications are that it’s still pointing in that direction. Butler was once in a league with Xavier and Dayton and with Saint Louis nearby it’s a slam dunk for basketball and the overall athletic department. The hurdle for the department would be to ensure that it’s not too much of an added cost for the non-revenue sports. A-10 sources and Colonial Athletic Association sources all said there was no truth to George Mason and VCU moving to the A-10, too. They’ve gone public with that, as well. The A-10 shouldn’t go to 16 anyway at this juncture. All it needs to do for now is replace Temple for Butler. If Charlotte were to leave for the CUSA-MWC merger then the A-10 can deal with that loss later.

3. Pat Kelsey took over the job at Winthrop in a surprising move since Kelsey had resigned from his Xavier assistant position to spend more time with his family last year. I spoke with Kelsey a few times and he legitimately feared that he was not spending enough time at home and that he was going to miss his children’s lives. Kelsey was deeply troubled by the death of his mentor, former coach Skip Prosser. But the year off did wonders for him. The hope is that he has his priorities set and can allow himself at a smaller, less intense school like Winthrop to stay grounded and keep the balance necessary in his life.

Before we get to the Blue Ribbon team-by-team previews for the Big South, here is Eamonn Brennan's quick wind sprint through the league:


Blue Ribbon team breakdowns:

Campbell
Charleston Southern
Coastal Carolina
Gardner-Webb
High Point
Liberty
Radford
UNC Asheville
VMI
Winthrop

Editor's Note: Presbyterian is not yet eligible for the postseason and therefore did not get previewed by the Blue Ribbon Yearbook.

More Big South content:

• Video: Paul Biancardi interviews new Radford coach Mike Jones.
• Video: Biancardi interviews veteran Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis.
• Biancardi gives the lowdown on the top incoming freshmen in the Big South.

Two Winthrop players -- senior guard Reggie Middleton and junior forward Gideon Gamble -- were arrested Oct. 25 at 2:45 a.m., just four hours before their team's 6 a.m. practice. Police in Rock Hill, S.C., said the duo had been drinking and charged them with disorderly conduct-fighting for their role in a scuffle at a McDonald's. As Diamond Leung wrote at the time, the charges led Winthrop coach Randy Peele to institute a midnight curfew for his players.

Moreover, it was another embarrassing legal run-in for the Eagles, who in April saw former leading scorer Robbie Dreher and teammate Julius Francis leave the team amidst charges of sexual misconduct. What, exactly, is going on at Winthrop?

But there are two sides to every story, and Middleton and Gamble were given permission by team officials to share their account of the incident with the The Herald. According to the players, they were not drunk -- they each had a beer at a frat party but nothing more -- and they became involved in a scuffle only after trying to help a group of females that were being threatened by a drunk and unruly McDonald's patron:

"This group came in, and one of them was being extra loud and obnoxious," Gamble said. "They started to get in a conversation with a group of young ladies, and then the one guy got really loud and started threatening them. When he stepped toward them with his hands up, that's when I approached. My exact words to him were, 'Chill out man; these are females.'"

Gamble said the man and one of the women exchanged heated words before "he stepped to her with his hands up like he was going fight her like she was a man." That, Gamble said, was when he was pushed from behind. "I immediately went to self-defense," he said.

Police arrived shortly thereafter, but, according to the players, the officers did not announce their presence or attempt to break up the fight. Instead, Middleton says, the next thing he felt was a shock from a taser. Gamble was also tased, but he pulled the shock string out of his leg and attempted to run out of the restaurant and away from the scene. Instead, he was confronted by another of the drunken group, and when he was threatened by police with the taser, he surrendered.

This is all very he-said, police-said, of course, but Middleton and Gamble's stories sure feel believable. But it still doesn't answer the question of why the two were at a frat party the night before a 6 a.m. practice, nor does it explain the late-night trip to McDonald's. Herald reporter Darin Gantt agreed, asking Middleton why the two were scarfing fast food out so late in the evening:

"I don't know man," he said. "We were just hungry."

Fair enough, right?

Of course, it will be up to Middleton and Gamble to explain their version of events in a court of law, and it will be up to a judge to figure out whether the two should be charged with disorderly conduct or whether their self-defense defense (ahem) rings true. But no matter the outcome, the lesson, as always, is this: After midnight in a college town, trouble tends to find you.

A 6 a.m. practice is there for a reason, guys. Stay in. Rest up. Avoid melees at McDonald's. Words to live by, no?