Kelton Talford has one year of college eligibility remaining but he likely won’t spend it at Winthrop.
After four successful years with the Eagles, a stint that included to all-conference selections and one appearance in the NCAA tournament, Talford entered his name in the NCAA transfer portal on Monday. The portal is an online database meant to streamline the transfer process. Athletes inform the compliance director of their current school that they are considering a transfer and the compliance director then has two days to put the name of the player in the portal. Players and programs can then explore mutual interest but players are able to take their names out of the portal if they so choose. Talford would be playing next year as a graduate student.
In Winthrop’s recently completed season, Talford appeared in 31 of the team’s 32 games with 28 starts. He led the team in scoring at 14.1 points-per-game and shot 62.4% from the field. He also pulled down a team-best 5.7 rebounds a contest to go along with 1.1 assists a game. Those numbers earned him a second straight All Big South first team selection.
Winthrop lost to Longwood in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament last week by a final score of 69-56. With the team finishing at 17-15 a postseason bid was not forthcoming, but Talford was able to shine in the loss. The senior just missed a double-double, scoring eight points and pulling down 10 rebounds, to go along with two blocks and two assists in what may stand as his final game in an Eagles uniform.
As a freshman, Talford was a key reserve and averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds a game for a team that advanced to the NCAA tournament. Those number improved to 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds a game as a sophomore and then Talford has his best statistical year a junior, going for 16.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. His freshman campaign was during the so-called “COVID year” during which players did not lose a year of eligibility.
At Great Falls (where he also played football), Talford was moved to the post midway through his freshman year and started there the remainder of his prep career.
He was the Class A Player of the Year and an All-State pick as a senior and he helped guide the Red Devils to the 2020 Class A state championship in his final game. He also scored more than 1,000 career points in his high school career, a feat he duplicated at Winthrop.
