Andy Winters recently ended his fifth year as head coach of the Otterbein men’s basketball program in 2023-24 after originally being hired from a list of more than 100 applicants during the spring of 2019.
Most recently, Winters guided Otterbein to its first top-three finish in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular-season standings in 19 years. The group finished 17-9 overall and beat a pair of nationally-ranked teams along the way - No. 23 Illinois College to win the Smokey Ballenger Classic and then a notable upset of No. 1-ranked John Carroll in the final week. Three Cardinals were named all-conference and another four landed Academic All-OAC for their work in the classroom.
Otterbein went more than a decade without having a first team All-OAC representative but has since landed a spot in consecutive years behind standouts Cam Evans (2022-23) and Jack Clement (2023-24). In addition, the program has enjoyed two OAC Freshman of the Year selections by way of Dallas Patrick and Julian Heckman under his tutelage.
Winters immediately got the Cardinals back into the OAC Tournament during his inaugural campaign, bowing out to national title contender Mount Union. Otterbein then experienced a huge turnaround under its taskmaster in 2021-22, posting a 17-8 record to mark the most single-season victories for the program in over 15 years. Six of those losses were to teams ranked in the national poll, with the Cards going an impressive 9-3 in games decided by two possessions or less.
Winters came to Otterbein after spending five years as the lead assistant at nearby OAC rival Capital University, including the 2016-17 season as interim head coach. He was part of a 2018-19 breakout year for the Crusaders, who turned around a 12-14 record into a 21-8 campaign en route to sharing the OAC regular-season championship. Capital, reaching as high as No. 16 in the national rankings, hit the 20-win plateau for the first time in a decade while earning top-seed honors in the OAC Tournament.
Capital then made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012, winning an opening-round game before admirably bowing out to powerhouse/host Augustana College, 85-79. His coaching efforts went into developing a pair of 1,000-point scorers, including OAC Player of the Year and All-American Austin Schreck.
Winters memorably stepped in to serve as interim head coach at Capital during the 2015-16 season after Damon Goodwin took a hiatus to battle leukemia. He was the youngest NCAA head basketball coach (25) at the time, helping guide Capital to a four-win improvement from the previous year and keep intact a run of consecutive tournament berths since Goodwin’s hire in 1994. Capital went from 8-18 to a 12-14 record and, of those losses, seven were by two possessions or less.
Winters spent one year at Ohio Dominican University prior to his stint at Capital, helping the Panthers achieve their most conference wins since joining NCAA Division II. A 2013 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, he was a standout player himself on the hardwood by leading the Battling Bishops to a pair of NCAA appearances and serving as a host in the “Big Dance” for the first time since 1988. He was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Hall of Fame in 2023.
A four-year starter at point guard, Winters was a 3x All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection, a member of the NCAC All-Decade Team, broke all of OWU’s assist records, participated in the NABC All-Star Game and ended his senior season with first team All-American honors. He was also voted the Regional Player of the Year by the NABC, D3Hoops.com and D3 News after ranking top-five nationally in assists.
Winters, a member of the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC), obtained his master’s in business administration at Capital in the spring of 2018 and also taught various health and sport sciences courses. He earned a bachelor’s of education degree in history while at Ohio Wesleyan, and is a 2009 graduate of nearby Bishop Watterson High School.
Andy and his wife (Katie) reside in nearby Worthington with their young son, Max.
Head Coaching Record:
| Year |
Overall |
OAC |
OAC Tournament |
| 2015-16 * |
12-14 |
8-10 |
0-1 |
| ----- |
----- |
----- |
----- |
| 2019-20 |
8-18 |
5-13 |
0-1 |
| 2020-21 |
2-7 |
2-6 |
0-1 |
| 2021-22 |
17-8 |
11-6 |
0-1 |
| 2022-23 |
14-12 |
8-10 |
0-1 |
| 2023-24 |
17-9 |
11-7 |
0-1 |
| ------ |
----- |
----- |
------ |
| Otterbein Record |
58-54 |
37-42 |
0-5 |
| Career Record |
70-68 |
45-52 |
0-5 |
* Interim head coach at Capital
