Folsom, Calif.----When he arrived on campus more than a decade ago, Paul Talbot says Wingate University was known for its baseball and soccer programs…basketball was considered an afterthought. This was something new for him, considering he played for a high school team in New Jersey with a rich tradition of winning and producing major NCAA Division I talent.
 
Talbot says “the beautiful campus” and the “aggressive pitch of starting a winning tradition” allured him as a young student-athlete to make the journey south from New Jersey to a small private school on the outskirts of Charlotte. “This choice would turn out to be one of the best decisions of my life,” Talbot says. He would help pave the way to putting the Wingate Basketball program on the national map.
 
As a senior in high school, Paul Talbot played on a basketball team with four future NCAA Division I basketball players. “We were an impressive show to watch,” Talbot says as he reflects on his high school days and his journey to Wingate. It wasn’t until the final game of his senior year when Talbot would play in front of Wingate coaches.
 
“It was my last game during the regional finals,” Talbot says. Little did Wingate’s coaches know they were getting their initial glimpse at the Bulldogs’ first senior college men’s basketball All-American.
 
Talbot took his recruiting visit during the spring. “I essentially committed to them knowing I would be a recruited walk-on during my first year on campus,” Talbot says. “I was excited to know I would be the start of a new tradition at Wingate.”
 
Talbot would come to have a great appreciation for what it takes to be a walk-on athlete at any program. “If I was at practice freshman year and there was a drill, I would be the odd man out every time,” Talbot says when recalling the walk-on phase of his life.   Talbot would take this walk-on mentality as fuel which would end up with him starting the first game versus Appalachian State.  “I took it as a chip on my shoulder and embraced my role as a contributor,” Talbot says. “We had some ups and downs my freshman year. One of the highlights was beating NCAA Division I Coastal Carolina.”
 
The true test of Paul Talbot’s character came in an unexpected way at the conclusion of his freshman year. The coach who recruited him did not return…the same coach who influenced him to come to campus. This disappointment turned into Talbot going to the Athletic Director and asking for a release from his national letter of intent.
 
“This meeting evolved into the Athletic Director asking me to be on the selection committee to hire the next coach,” Talbot says. It was an honor for Talbot to be asked to sit on the committee to select the new coach and thus led him to stay at Wingate University.
 
Enter Jeff Reynolds into the helm at Wingate. “Coach Reynolds brought in a much different coaching style in the sense he was almost military-like in the way he coached,” Talbot says when asked how the basketball culture changed upon Reynolds’ arrival. Talbot remembers the mentality of the team changing during his sophomore year. “Our attitude and the basketball culture was changing at Wingate.” 
 
“By my junior season, we felt we could win every game,” Talbot says. “We had adjusted to the new coaching style and we embraced the fact that winning a national championship was our ultimate goal.” It was also a difficult adjustment for Talbot, who had to take on the role of point guard. “The point guard position was almost like an extension of Coach Reynolds on the court. My teammates and I enjoyed walking across campus and receiving recognition” as the Bulldogs became nationally recognized during a South Atlantic Conference title run which led to their first NCAA playoff appearance.
 
“There was much excitement going into our senior year,” Talbot remembers when asked about the expectations of the school’s first historic NCAA playoff run which resulted in a regular season SAC title. “Coach Reynolds did a great job of keeping us level-headed, even though we were preseason ranked in the top three in the SAC for the first time in school history.” Talbot took advantage of every opportunity, as he would become the first All-American men’s basketball player in the school’s senior college history. Talbot and his teammates would leave a legacy of back-to-back NCAA play-off appearances.
 
“Paul had tremendous focus on the floor whenever the coaching staff was talking,” Reynolds says. “He wanted to know anything a coach could give him which would improve his game…he was always willing to learn!”
 
A well-rounded student-athlete at Wingate, Talbot joined the Wingate University Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. He embraced what it means to be a true student-athlete at the Division II level; he used the opportunity to further his education.  Talbot is also a true reflection of what it takes to go from a walk-on to an All-American not only on the basketball court, but in the classroom as well. Talbot believes his classroom experience helped him further his life upon graduation. 
 
“Without a doubt, Paul was the same type of leader off the floor, in the classroom, in the community and on the campus,” Reynolds says. “He was not only respected by his teammates, but by everyone he came into contact with from his dorm mates to the regular student, to the faculty and staff throughout the Wingate family.”
 
Talbot is proud of his alma mater. “I love taking my family back to Wingate and watching how the campus continues to grow,” Talbot says.
 
PAUL TALBOT
 
Paul Talbot played his college basketball for John Thurston and Jeff Reynolds. Talbot was named to the NABC All-American third team in 2000. He is the first senior college men’s basketball student-athlete to earn All-American honors. As a senior, Talbot averaged 11.6 points per game and dished out 100 assists.
 
Wingate compiled a 26-4 overall record and hosted the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional tournament in 2000. Talbot was named to the All-SAC team his junior and senior seasons. Currently, he is the president for Opal Innovations.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Wingate University, ranked as the 6th “best value” in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves nearly 2,700 students on three campuses in Wingate, Matthews and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy and education. With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity. 
 
In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past six years.
 
Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing private colleges in the 2000’s with 52 selections. Among North Carolina’s colleges and universities, Wingate’s 52 Academic All-America® honorees are tied for first (with Duke University) during this millennium. Wingate’s 61 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.
 
(Recent Wingate University graduate Jack Taylor contributed this article. A native of Keystone Heights, Fla., Taylor majored in communication studies at Wingate.)