Cassius Winston

Cassius Winston

Winston with Bayern Munich in 2022
No. 5 – Pallacanestro Reggiana
Position	Point guard
League	LBA
Personal information
Born	(1998-02-28) February 28, 1998 (age 26) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	University of Detroit Jesuit (Detroit, Michigan)
College	Michigan State (2016–2020)
NBA draft	2020: 2nd round, 53rd overall pick
Selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder
Playing career	2020–present
Career history
2020–2022	Washington Wizards
2021	→Erie BayHawks
2021–2022	→Capital City Go-Go
2022–2023	Bayern Munich
2023–2024	Tofaş
2024–present	UnaHotels Reggio Emilia
Career highlights and awards
German Cup winner (2023) 2× Consensus second-team All-American (2019, 2020) Big Ten Player of the Year (2019) 2× First-team All Big Ten (2019, 2020) Third-team All-Big Ten (2018) Big Ten tournament MOP (2019) Mr. Basketball of Michigan (2016)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Cassius Xavier-Lamarr Winston (born February 28, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans.

High school career

Winston, a 6'1 point guard, was a star prep player at University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy in Detroit. As a senior in 2016, he led his team to an MHSAA Class A State Championship, and was named Mr. Basketball of Michigan.^[1] Winston was inducted into the Catholic High School League Hall of Fame in 2020.^{[citation needed]}

Recruiting

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Cassius Winston PG	Detroit, MI	University of Detroit Jesuit (MI)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	Sep 18, 2015
	Star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 89
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 29  247Sports: 31  ESPN: 31
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.

College career

Winston in February 2020

He chose to attend college at Michigan State,^[2] and averaged 6.7 points and 5.2 assists per game in 35 games as a freshman.^[3] As a sophomore, he became a full-time starter, averaging 12.6 points and 6.9 assists per game for the Spartans, and earning third-team All-Big Ten Conference honors.^[4]

Entering into Winston's junior season, he was selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team.^[5] After a strong start to the year, he was named to the midseason watch list for the John R. Wooden Award.^[6] He would lead the Spartans to a 2019 Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship, being named Big Ten tournament Most Outstanding Player.

On March 11, 2019, Winston was named the Big Ten Player of the Year.^[7] On March 31, 2019, Winston scored 20 points along with 10 assists in a 68–67 win against Duke in the Elite Eight of the 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[8]

Prior to the start of the 2019–20 season, Winston was unanimously named a preseason All-American by the Associated Press (AP), the only player so honored.^[9] On December 29, Winston missed a game against Western Michigan with a bone bruise in his knee.^[10] He scored a career-high 32 points along with nine assists in a 87–69 win over Michigan on January 5, 2020.^[11] Winston passed Mateen Cleaves' Big Ten record of 816 assists on January 17, in a win against Wisconsin.^[12] At the close of the regular season, Winston was named to the First Team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media.^[13] Winston averaged 18.3 points and 5.9 assists per game as a senior.^[14]

Professional career

Washington Wizards (2020–2022)

On November 18, 2020, Winston was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 53rd overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. His rights were subsequently traded to the Washington Wizards and on November 28, 2020, he was signed to a two-way contract.^[15] However, since Washington's affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go withdrew from the tournament, he was assigned to the Erie BayHawks for the NBA G League season, making his debut on February 10, 2021.

On August 19, 2021, Winston signed a second two-way contract with the Wizards.^[16] He appeared in 7 games for the Wizards during the 2021–2022 regular season.^[17]

Winston joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2022 NBA Summer League.^[18]

Bayern Munich (2022–2023)

On July 28, 2022, Winston signed with German club Bayern Munich.^[19]

Tofaş (2023–2024)

On July 18, 2023, he signed with Tofaş of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).^[20]

Pallacanestro Reggiana (2024–present)

On July 19, 2024, he signed two-year deal with Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).^[21]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2020–21	Washington	22	0	4.5	.424	.471	.833	.4	.5	.1	.0	1.9
2021–22	Washington	7	0	5.6	.364	.333	1.000	.1	1.0	.0	.0	2.0
Career		29	0	4.7	.409	.435	.900	.3	.7	.1	.0	1.9

Play-in

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2021	Washington	2	0	3.6	.000	.000	–	1.0	1.5	.0	.0	.0
Career		2	0	3.6	.000	.000	–	1.0	1.5	.0	.0	.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2021	Washington	1	0	5.0	.333	.000	—	2.0	1.0	.0	.0	2.0
Career		1	0	5.0	.333	.000	—	2.0	1.0	.0	.0	2.0

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016–17	Michigan State	35	5	20.7	.423	.380	.775	1.8	5.2	.7	.1	6.7
2017–18	Michigan State	35	34	28.1	.507	.497	.900	3.4	6.9	.7	.1	12.6
2018–19	Michigan State	39	39	33.5	.460	.398	.840	3.0	7.5	1.0	.1	18.8
2019–20	Michigan State	30	30	32.7	.448	.432	.852	2.5	5.9	1.2	.0	18.6
Career		139	108	28.8	.461	.430	.845	2.7	6.4	.9	.1	14.2

Personal life

Winston has two younger brothers, Zachary and Khy, who played basketball at Albion College. On November 9, 2019, Zachary Winston was killed after being struck by a train.^[22]

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career assists leaders

References

1. McCabe, Mick (March 21, 2016). "Cassius Winston named Michigan's Mr. Basketball". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
2. O’Donnell, Ricky (September 18, 2015). "4-star PG Cassius Winston commits to Michigan State, puts Tom Izzo on brink of his best recruiting class ever". SBNation.com. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
3. Solari, Chris (June 13, 2017). "MSU's Cassius Winston plans summer packed with court time". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
4. Austin, Kyle (January 18, 2019). "Michigan State's Cassius Winston's recent play could make him a Big Ten Player of the Year contender". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
5. Austin, Kyle (October 10, 2018). "Preseason writers poll predicts Big 10 conference win for MSU, second for Michigan". MLive. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
6. Sullivan, Crowley (January 10, 2019). "Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 - Is Cassius Properly Positioned?". USA Today. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
7. Charboneau, Matt (March 11, 2019). "Michigan State's Cassius Winston named Big Ten Player of Year; Tillman top sixth man". The Detroit News. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
8. "Michigan State knocks off Duke 68-67 to make Final Four". ESPN. Associated Press. March 31, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
9. Marshall, John (October 22, 2019). "Michigan State basketball Cassius Winston: Only consensus preseason AP All-American". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
10. "Michigan State's Cassius Winston out with bone bruise in knee". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
11. Solari, Chris (January 5, 2020). "Michigan State basketball witnessed quintessential Cassius Winston; so did Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
12. "Cassius Winston's 817th career assist breaks former fellow Spartan Mateen Cleaves' record". ESPN. January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
13. "Big Ten Unveils Men's Basketball Postseason Honors on BTN" (Press release). Big Ten Conference. March 9, 2020. Archived from the original on March 9, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
14. Dauster, Rob (March 10, 2020). "NBC Sports College Basketball All-American Teams". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
15. Gehring, Chris (November 28, 2020). "Wizards sign Winston to two-way contract". NBA.com. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
16. Gauruder, Dana (August 20, 2021). "Wizards Re-Sign Cassius Winston To Two-Way Deal". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
17. "Cassius Winston Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
18. "Philadelphia 76ers 2022 NBA2K23 Summer League Roster". NBA.com. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
19. "From the Washington Wizards to Munich". FC Bayern Munich. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
20. "Cassius Winston Tofaş'ta". tofasspor.com (in Turkish). July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
21. "Pallacanestro Reggiana officially signs Cassius Winston". Sportando. July 19, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
22. Borzello, Jeff (November 10, 2019). "Cassius Winston stars in Michigan State's win a day after death of brother". ESPN. Retrieved November 11, 2019.

External links

• Michigan State Spartans bio
• College statistics