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WINTHROPEAGLES Basketball

NEWCOMER SPOTLIGHT BRYCE BAKER

BORN MAY 23, 2003 IN MOORESVILLE, NC

SEEKING A DEGREE IN BUSINESS LED DAVIDSON DAY TO A NORTH CAROLINA STATE TITLE IN 2019

STARTED 10 GAMES AS A FRESHMAN AT OLD DOMINION IN 2022-23

FINISHED SECOND ON THE TEAM WITH 42 MADE 3-POINTERS AS A SOPHOMORE AT OLD DOMINION IN 2023-24

2024-25 MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

#1 Isaiah Wilson 6'1 - Guard Senior Pittsburgh, PA

#2 Ryan Jolly 6'3 - Guard Graduate Martinez, GA

#3 Paul Jones III 6'4 - Guard Freshman Suffolk, VA

#4 Kelton Talford 6'7 - Forward Senior Great Falls, SC

#5 Yoro Diallo 6'8 - Forward R-Sophomore Cincinnati, OH

#8 Cam Christy 6'4 - Guard Junior Walton, KY

#10 Nick Johnson 6'4 - Guard

#11 Kasen Harrison 6'2 - Guard Senior

#13 Clay Howard 6'3 - Guard Junior Aiken, SC

#14 Noah Van Bibber 6'5 - Guard Sophomore DeBary, FL

#15 Tommy Kamarad

#12 K J Doucet 6'7 - Forward Senior

#21 Tai Hamilton

#22 Henry Harrison 5'11 - Guard

#51 Logan Duncomb 6'10 - Center Junior Cincinnati,

#55 Bryce Baker 6'5 - Guard Junior Mooresville, NC

MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHING STAFF

Mark Prosser was hired as the 7th head coach in Winthrop men's basketball history on Apr 2, 2021

Prior to returning to Winthrop, Prosser spent the previous three seasons as the head coach of the Western Carolina men's basketball program In April of 2012, Prosser was hired as an assistant coach under Pat Kelsey and then served as Associate Head Coach from August of 2013 until his departure to Western Carolina in the spring of 2018

During his 15-year coaching career on the NCAA level, Prosser has been an assistant coach at Wofford College on two occasions and Bucknell while spending one season at Brevard College as the head coach before joining Winthrop's staff

In his second stint at Wofford College, Prosser helped the Terriers to a 2010-11 Southern Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance While at Bucknell the team averaged 20 wins a season and in 2004-05 the team won the Patriot League title The Bison made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament and pulled off a first round upset over Kansas The next season (2005-06) the Bison went undefeated in the Patriot League, becoming the first conference member to do so The team earned its first Top 25 appearance in school history and earned a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament as Bucknell defeated Arkansas before falling to Memphis in the second round

A native of Wheeling, W Va , Prosser played collegiately at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N Y , before a knee injury ended his career prematurely He began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at Marist until his graduation in 2002, helping the Red Foxes to a share of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) regular season title in 2001-02

Prosser and his wife Emily are the parents of two -- a daughter, Ava Grayce and a son, Declan

Tony Rack Associate Head Coach

Markprosser HeadCoach

Monty Sanders Associate Head Coach

Mitchell Hill Assistant Coach

Kaylin Johnson Assistant Coach

Matt Erps Assistant Coach for Video Coordination

Thomas Lefler Special Assistant to the Head Coach

2024-25 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER

#0 Ar’mani Reid 5'9 - Guard Sophomore Jacksonville, NC

#1 Olivia Wagner 5'7 - Guard Junior Crozet, VA

#3 Ronaltha Marc 5'10 - Forward Senior Miami, FL

#4 Marissa Gasaway 5'11 - Forward Senior Louisville, KY

#5 Prunelle Mungo 6'2 - Center Senior Philadelphia, PA

#7 Ciara Harris 5'8 - Guard Graduate Alexandria, VA

#10 Jada Ryce 5'5 - Guard Senior McDonough, GA

#11 Blessing Okoh 6'0 - Forward Senior Houston, TX

#12 Leonor Paisana 5'7 - Point Guard Senior Lisbon, Portugal

#13 Mya Pierfax 5'9 - Guard Junior Lake Elsinore, CA

#15 Amourie Porter 5'10 - Forward Sophomore Glen Burnie, MD

#21 Persais Williams 5'9 - Forward Freshman Bolingbrook, IL

#22 Nuria Cunill 6'1 - Forward Senior Berga, Spain

#25 Konnor Gambrell 6'1 - Guard Graduate Alexandria, VA

#30 Adelaide McLeod 5'9 - Guard Sophomore Savoy, IL

#34 Bria Beverly 5'11 - Forward Junior Dallastown, PA

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHING STAFF

After serving as the interim head coach for the 2020-21 season, Semeka Randall Lay was named the 17th head coach in Winthrop women's basketball history in April 2021 Randall Lay joined the Eagles as Associate Head Coach prior to the 2019-20 season

She comes to Winthrop with years of experience and stops at Ohio, Alabama A&M, Cleveland State, Michigan State, West Virginia, Wright State, and Cincinnati

Randall-Lay coached the program’s 600th all-time win at South Carolina State, was named to the 2024 American Basketball Hall of Fame, captured her 100th career coaching victory vs Longwood at home, and saw Marissa Gasaway and Jada Ryce take home All-Conference honors in 2023-24

A standout guard at Tennessee from 1998-2001, Randall-Lay earned Kodak All-America First Team honors in 1999 and 2000 She was an integral part of Tennessee’s 1998 NCAA Championship team that went 39-0, averaging 15 9 points a game while earning honorable mention All-America recognition

In addition to her All-America honors, she was named the Women’s Basketball Journal’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000, First Team All-SEC in 1999 and 2000, Second Team All-SEC and SEC AllFreshman Team in 1998, and was on the NCAA Mideast Regional All-Tournament team in 1998 and 2000

In 2004, she completed her four-year WNBA career which included stops in Seattle (2001-02), Utah (2002) and San Antonio (2003-04)

semekarandalllay HeadCoach

Annmarie Gilbert Associate Head Coach

Necole Sterling Assistant Head Coach

Dante Travis Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator

Dominique Duck Assistant Coach/Director of Operations

Myron Poindexter Graduate Assistant

Jordan Warlick Video Coordinator

ONE-ON-ONE WITH SEMEKA RANDALL-LAY CONDUCTED

Q:What skills and traits from your time in the WNBA and overseas do you teach your players?

A: One of our key slogans has been grit and toughness Its been the display of our team and thats where I want our team to stand on So we emphasize that a lot within our practice

Q:You’ve had a very decorated playing career, what do you hope to add to your already impressive resume as a coach?

A: I want to be able to create a winning program that will consist of winning championships. We’re actually celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the last time that the Winthrop women’s basketball team won a (Big South) championship. I definetley want to create a winning program and win as many championships as possible as well as make it to the NCAA tournament.

Q: How have stops at Michigan State, West Virginia and others prepared you for the head coaching job at Winthrop?

A: The assistant spots allowed me to see how another head coach ran a program and saw what I would implement and what I wouldn’t. I would say my other styles, where I've been a head coach previously, and I've actually got to put things in place I've learned what works and what doesn't work. And for me being here, and this doesn't happen often, that someone gets a head coaching job, again, I value this, and I want to make the best out of this opportunity that I have, that I've been granted and blessed with. So I've kicked out all the things that I didn't do well at those maybe previous spots, but understanding that, especially when this new generation, how your players have to be able to relate to you, where we're both going through a brick wall for one another.

Q: What has kept you at Winthrop and why is it home for you?

A: This is probably been the longest place I've been I know I started out as an associate head coach. I'm grateful that the people here have been patient, because that doesn't happen in college athletics. I know a lot of things had a part in that with covid and stuff, it made things pause such as the economy and stuff like that. But this is home, because I'm creating something from from the bottom up, and they're giving me the time and opportunity to be able to do that. So it's been great, especially off of last year, where we've had the most wins in a decade. And I'm hopeful that we can continue to just continue build, keep building this program up, because it's, it's been an afterthought for a while, and to be able to be about part of that still is I'm truly grateful for that.

Q: What is the short and long term plan for Winthrop basketball? Does it go beyond just championships?

Q: How has the game changed from your time as a player at Tennessee in terms of either NIL landscape, recruiting, or production of faster, taller, and bigger athletes?

A: The weird thing is, I played in front of 24,000 people every night and even though we don’t get 24,000 fans at our games, people are paying attention to women’s basketball right now And I mean nationally, people are paying attention. I’m going to say this and people may get upset for me saying this, but I would rather watch women’s basketball than men’s basketball some days because of the different styles. Men’s basketball is really heavy on individuals What I say, it sticks, it doesn’t get out of hands, and its just one person dribbling around, and then they make a play There’s an art in women’s basketball and its kind of played the old school way. Guys like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, they shared the ball and people made passes and you get excited

I think that’s where our game is and its fun to watch I love watching the WNBA and I literally watch every team. I’m stealing stuff from them because I love the stuff they’re executing Its just at an all time high for women’s basketball. It didn’t used to be that way. At times, you didn’t have five talented players out on the floor and I mean highlevel talented players. Now, we’re watching the WNBA and we’re seeing it trickle down into the college game.

You’re watching women do some remarkable things and the stuff we’re doing is pretty exciting. The team aspect of it is fun. NIL, yes, this is a whole new level, along with transfer portal. I think now you could have a team that wasn't great change quickly, because money is driven behind it And I hope that we can get our women's program to a point where NIL is a great conversation for us when we want to maybe try to steal a kid that we're not supposed to get. I think it could be done here at Winthrop University, because there is so many things to sell here

Our housing situation is good The people here are great The location is fabulous. Now, put some money behind that, you may get a kid here and it doesn't take a whole lot at this particular level, and in this conference, that could set you apart. So, we don't have to buy a whole team, but we definitely need to have a couple key more players and utilizing that transfer portal on top of the NIL money to help make this thing go

Q: Who has been your biggest mentor as a coach?

A: Its taken a village to raise me and a village to mentor me. I pull stuff from a lot of people. Someone who got me started in this game, is my mentor Al Brown. I’ll have him dissect my team and tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly of things I need to know. Also, he was my old WNBA coach but he’s now in the collegiate game is Vonn Read from Houston

A: I want to graduate all of these student-athletes We’re not going to play basketball for the rest of our lives and we’re not going to get these big contracts and things like that So, graduation is important Being consistent at winning which is hopefully followed by championships because I don’t want to skip a step here. We talk about the small things that will build into something big I want to make sure character is super important, how we are respectful to one another, whether they’re a part of our program or the professors across campus I want us to make sure when you see Winthrop women’s basketball, you say nothing but great things about our program

Q: How has the competitiveness of the Big South made you a better coach?

A: There are some really good coaches in our conference and I want to give them credit. It makes me work a little bit harder. I stay a little longer, dissect the video to make sure we have a good game plan. I love my staff because they try to challenge me There’s a wealth of experience even on down to our assistant coach/director of operations, she spent nine years coaching. I love that we have all these different minds that have different opinions to challenge me so that way we can put our best product on the floor During the season, I stay long and I’m an early person. The student-athletes know that I get up at 4:30 every morning and we practice early, too Whatever we need to do to make this a memorable moment and I want this to be a journey. I want to stay in the moment and connected with these athletes.

ONE-ON-ONE WITH SEMEKA RANDALL-LAY CONDUCTED

Then you have other head coaches in this business that you’re talking to because we’re not only coaching basketball, but other things off the court to help our student-athletes. I’m in charge of 17 student-athletes on top of the staff members that I have. I just want to make the best decision. I’m not always going to make all of them, but I want to be confident in what I do. I definitely lean on other coaches because that’s the business To help navigate through things, to see a different perspective before making a decision.

Q: What does Semeka Randall Lay find herself doing outside of basketball?

A: As seen on my social media, I love to cook. My husband came up with a great concept this past season We took four to five student-athletes, let them pick the menu, then we cooked and prepared it for the entire team. I love getting out and exploring different concerts and I’m also getting back in the gym I can’t have my kids getting in shape if I’m not getting in shape! I want to have the ability to have balance and I think sometimes we get caught up in what we’re supposed to do, which is not always a bad thing. But I do enjoy being here and being able to grow and have a balance.