Winston is a four-star, 6-foot-1 senior point guard for Detroit U-D Jesuit and had his top three schools narrowed down to Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Stanford.
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However, once Winston made it obvious that he was leaning towards East Lansing, Michigan made Winston’s decision a bit easier by pulling their offer and securing a commitment from Ohio point guard Xavier Simpson.
Regardless of Bridges’ still looming decision, the addition of Winston gives the Spartans one of the better recruiting classes in the country at this juncture.
With Winston’s build and style of play in how he runs the floor, he will fit perfectly in head coach Tom Izzo’s team-first system as he looks to make a name for himself in the Big 10.
With shooting guard Josh Langford and power forward Nick Ward having already committed, Michigan State is well on its way to putting together one of the top classes in the Class of 2016.
The byproduct of all this?
After Winston’s commitment, 247sports.com promoted the Spartans’ 2016 recruiting class to No. 1 in the nation, followed by Florida State, Connecticut, Virginia and UCLA. There, he played in an open gym with current and former Michigan State players and attended the Spartans’ game against Oregon.
This was a decision Winston struggled with for months before deciding on MSU. “Whatever he wants to do, I hope and pray that’s best for him”. Winston, who played for The Family grassroots program, missed time this spring with a broken wrist but is now back to full strength.
If it felt like there was a certain inevitability to Michigan State’s Final Four run previous year , it had more to do with the name on the front of the jerseys than the names on the back of them.
In watching Winston, Donnelly said Izzo was seeing a guard with strong passing and facilitating skills. If there’s the opportunity that he could play with me, I would love that.
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“It’s just the atmosphere when I went there”, he said. He’s noted in various scouting reports for being able to score off the dribble and also being a good catch-and-shoot shooter with deep range. “I’ve been building a great relationship with him for the last four years so we’re pretty close now”.
