The Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Pat Kelsey, played their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference.

They defeated Gardner–Webb in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament before losing in the semifinals to Radford.

[3][4] On March 21, 2017, head coach Pat Kelsey initially left Winthrop to take the head coaching job at Massachusetts, but backed out two days later citing "personal reasons" and returned to Winthrop.

[5] The Eagles were picked to finish second in conference play in a preseason Big South poll.

[6] Senior G/F Xavier Cooks was named to the All-Big South preseason first team.