Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang has promoted Anthony Winchester to an on-court role as the Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
 
The former Western Kentucky standout came to K-State in April 2023 as the Director of Video Operations, helping a Wildcat team picked 10th in the preseason Big 12 poll to a 26-10 overall record, a tie for third place in the Big 12 and a spot in the Elite Eight in 2022-23.
 
“A-Dub is just a sharp, sharp guy,” said Tang of Winchester during his most recent media Zoom. “The success that he has had as a player, his demeanor, how he delivers the message and how he sees the game a little bit differently from his experiences make him the total package. He really connects with people, loves the players and cares about the game. He’ll go as far as he wants to go and do anything he wants to do in the game of basketball.”
 
Winchester, along with Chief of Staff Marco Borne, will now serve in on-court coaching roles after the NCAA passed legislation allowing two extra on-court coaches in men’s and women’s basketball in 2023-24. Unlike Tang, associate head coach Ulric Maligi and assistant coaches Jareem Dowling and Rodney Perry, they will not be able to recruit off campus.
 
“I’m truly blessed,” said Tang. “We have such a talented staff. They say in college basketball that your head coach and assistants one through three are pretty equal, it’s the guys underneath that people don’t see that really make the difference. We have some dudes underneath that could be elsewhere on the floor, coaching and doing other things, but they’re willing to be here and be a part of this program and play a significant role in what we do.”
 
An 8-year pro in Spain and Puerto Rico (2006-08 and 2010-16) after his Hall of Fame career as a Hilltopper (2002-06), Winchester came to K-State after spending the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach at Southern Miss for head coach Jay Ladner, who was selected as the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2022-23.
 
The 2021-22 season was Winchester’s first as an assistant coach, as he made a second stint at USM after serving as the video coordinator for one season in 2019-20. In between his two stints with the Golden Eagles, he served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Pacific for longtime NBA player and current Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire in 2020-21.
 
After a stint playing professionally in Spain and Puerto Rico, Winchester returned to the bench as a graduate assistant at Loyola Marymount for head coach Mike Dunlap in 2018-19.
 
Winchester got his start in coaching at his alma mater Western Kentucky, first as a graduate intern in 2008-09 followed by a stint as Director of Operations in 2009-10 working for head coach Ken McDonald. The Hilltoppers combined for 46 wins those two seasons, including a 25-win season in 2008-09 which was highlighted by a Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Winchester played professionally for 8 years for clubs in both Spain and Puerto Rico between 2006-08 and 2010-16. He twice was named Rookie of the Month while playing for Caja Rural Melilla in Spain’s 2nd Division in 2006-07, while he was selected to the LEB Gold First Team in 2012 and LEB Gold Player of the Year in 2013 while playing for Leche Rio Breogan Lugo in Spain’s 2nd Division. He also spent time playing in Puerto Rico, twice earning Player of the Week honors in 2014. He concluded his playing career in 2016 after playing in Spain’s 1st Division, ACB, which is known as the second-best professional league in the world behind the NBA.
 
Winchester enjoyed a memorable career at Western Kentucky playing for head coaches Dennis Felton and Darrin Horn from 2002-06, cumulating with his recognition to the school’s 15-member Centennial Team in 2006 and the WKU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019. He helped WKU to 84 wins, three postseason appearances (1 NCAA Tournament, 2 NITs), one Sun Belt Tournament Championship (2003) and two SBC Division titles (2003, 2006).
 
Winchester scored 1,732 points in his four-year career (2002-06) for the Hilltoppers, which ranks 10th on the school’s all-time list, while leading the team in scoring as a junior (18.2 ppg.) in 2004-05 and senior (18.6 ppg.) in 2005-06. As a senior, he was selected as an AP honorable mention All-American, a Mid-Major All-American by CollegeInsider.com and FOXSports.com and the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year after finishing second in the league in scoring (18.6 ppg.). He was twice named First Team All-Sun Belt (2005, 2006), while he was the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2002-03.
 
Winchester was also a standout player at Austin High School in Austin, Indiana, where he scored 2,256 career points to rank 21st all-time in Indiana prep history. He finished as the runner-up to Indiana Mr. Basketball after averaging 34.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game as a senior in 2001-02.
 
Winchester earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology/criminology from Western Kentucky in 2006.