Winston on decison: loyalty is a big thing in my family
DETROIT - Michigan State sealed a commitment from Rivals150 point guard Cassius Winston with an official visit last weekend.
But the groundwork for the Spartan recruiting victory began to be set four years ago when Tom Izzo first watched Winston play as a freshman at University of Detroit Jesuit.
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"Loyalty is a big thing in my family," Winston said. "If you are going to stay loyal to me, I'm going to stay loyal to you. That definitely was a big factor in the decision."
The player's father Reg Winston shares a similar view.
"Coach Izzo has been recruiting Cassius since his ninth grade year," said the player's father Reg Winston. "He's always been saying, 'that's who we want.' He's said that for four years, and he's never wavered on that."
Izzo has watched Winston play in more games and open gyms than any D-1 head coach. The first time Winston spotted Izzo in the stands as a freshman, he was unaware that the Spartan coach was there to watch him play.
"I'd have to say that my first memory of Coach Izzo was when he walked into the gym freshman year and everyone went crazy," Winston said. "The whole crowd, all of the fans went crazy. I am wondering why Coach Izzo is at the game. It turns out that he came for me, and that was really great."
Winston's high school coach Pat Donnelly also recalls Izzo's grand entrance.
"Actually it was kind of funny," Donnelly said. "He walked in and he is such a celebrity in the state. There was a soccer game going on the back field, and he was in here watching the kids play. And with Cassius he immediately said, 'who's that kid?' So we talked about him, and the kids that were here to watch the soccer game heard Coach Izzo was in gym. There were 50 of them and they lined up and were asking for autographs."
In typical Izzo fashion, none of the students looking for an autograph or a photo was turned away.
"How gracious he was to those kids, it's not surprising the following that he has just seeing that reaction," Donnelly said. "Any time he came into the gym here during a game, he was like the local celebrity. He would walk in, and people wanting pictures with him, autographs. He never said no to anybody. That's really something special. He's a down to earth guy, and I love that about him."