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Winthrop coach Randy Peele has every right to bask in the glory that comes with a Big South tournament championship.
He deserves a lot of credit for leading a team that began conference play with one win in four games and was 5-9 overall before turning the season around.
Peele took a lot of criticism early on for his team's style of play, poor record and inability to shoot. The negative comments came in the form of face-to-face confrontations, e-mails, message board posts and letters to the editor.
He got slammed, repeatedly.
After practice last Wednesday afternoon Peele addressed some of the criticism. Sitting in his office he began, uneasily, by sliding his chair back as if he'd find the right words from a slightly different vantage point.
One shot was taken at team leader Mantoris Robinson, who played at Butler High. The person said Robinson came to Winthrop as a really good player but hadn't gotten better under Peele's direction.
Robinson found the team's tipping point after the Charleston Southern loss when he called out his teammates. He told his teammates they needed to play with more heart.
Robinson went on to lead by example. He upped his offensive production, played rock-solid defense, earned his second straight defensive player of the year award and was named Big South tournament most valuable player.
Assistant coach Paul Molinari said Robinson has been through thick and thin with Peele. It was Peele who recruited Robinson and showed up at countless AAU games.
"Manny has grown as a person and player with Coach," Molinari said.
Peele explained his response to another question. When the team was 5-9, a fan asked if Winthrop's next game was a must-win. Peele said it wasn't. He never places any more importance on one game over another.
He thinks people lost sight of the schedule Winthrop had played. The Eagles lost to Charlotte, Cincinnati and N.C. State before jumping back into Big South action with losses at Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern.
"It was like a car wreck," Peele said. "People love to slow down to see if anyone is bleeding. People love to talk."
Winthrop won 10 of its next 11 games. The Eagles put their trust in the coaches and things began to click.
The only thing that seemed to get under Peele's skin was that the negativity resulted in his players' "catching heat" on campus. Peele is a team guy. He wanted to protect his team.
He's been asked if he feels validated since Winthrop earned the Big South's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament at Coastal Carolina.
Validated, because so many fans seemed to believe Peele took former coach Gregg Marshall's team to the 2008 Big Dance, not his.
Validated, because this team is made up of Peele's guys, players he recruited and coached.
"Someone once told me, one of the hardest things to do is to follow a legend," Peele said.
"Gregg Marshall is a good man. I have nothing but good feelings for him. What Gregg did here is unbelievable; winning seven titles in nine years."
Are Winthrop fans ready to call this Peele's team, or are they still left wondering what if Marshall were still in Rock Hill? Marshall left for Wichita State after the 2007 season. That was the year the Eagles beat Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament and finished the season ranked 22nd nationally.
Peele was an assistant under Marshall four years before taking the helm. When Marshall announced his departure, Peele was almost immediately named Winthrop's fifth head coach.
"I have worked my tail off to become a head coach," Peele said, getting on a roll. "Gregg Marshall and I, we didn't play high-major college basketball. We had to roll up our sleeves and work to get where we are. The difference between us is that he had a swagger and a presence. When he walked into the gym you knew it."
"I'm not him. My style is different. I'm more substance over style. I'm a blue-collar guy. That's who I am. That's who I want to be."
Peele has made a name for himself with the way he's closed out his three seasons. In 2007, the Eagles' won eight of their last 11. Last year the team won five straight to end the regular season before bowing out in the first round of the conference tournament.
Winthrop is 11-3 in their past 14 games and won the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed.
"I'm really pleased with the way we did it this year," Peele said. "We've been able to grind out games. If you can't grind out games you aren't going to win. I'm never going to change that."
Judge Peele by his results.
"Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse. We're ready to go," the coach said. "If you want to find out how good you are, you have to play the best."
