Michigan State will go as far as Cassius Winston takes them

Winston has a chance to make his mark as one of the next Spartan greats.

Cassius Winston isn’t a household name. In the Big Ten, guys like Ethan Happ or Carsen Edwards are probably more well known to the casual fan. On a national level, Zion Williamson and other future NBA stars are exponentially more recognizable.

Winston flies a bit under the radar on a national level, but the junior point guard for Michigan State is as important as any other player in the country.

Despite a two-game skid, Michigan State still sits tied atop the Big Ten standings and in the conversation for potential contenders to cut down the nets at the Final Four. If they’re going to do that, it will be primarily on the shoulders of Cassius Winston to lead them there.

Every great Spartan team of Tom Izzo’s tenure in East Lansing can point to a leader. Mateen Cleaves, Kalin Lucas, Draymond Green, Denzel Valentine, the list goes on and on. Winston has an opportunity to put himself in that same class of Spartan greats with a deep March run.

Winston’s time with the Spartans has been an interesting one. He came in as a top 50 recruit as a member of a highly touted recruiting class that featured a future lottery pick in Miles Bridges and two other top 50 talents in Josh Langford and Nick Ward. For most of his freshman year, he served as a backup to Tum Tum Nairn through an up and down season that resulted in a second round exit from the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Kansas.

Last year, he was given the keys to the offense and ended up leading the Big Ten in assists per game at 6.9. Last year’s Michigan State team was more talented than this year’s, but a team that had legitimate title aspirations was once again dealt an early exit in March, this time coming in a poor showing against an 11 seed Syracuse team that nearly made the Final Four.

Winston is now the guy in East Lansing. He’s the driver of one of the nation’s best offenses, and he is a maestro that dictates the flow of a game like few others in college basketball. With him at the helm, the Spartans are ranked No. 4 in KenPom, and are just one of three teams (Virginia and Duke) that are ranked in the top 10 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency metrics.

The core principle of Michigan State’s high powered offense is their ability to share the ball unlike any other team in the country. The Spartans are ranked No. 1 in the country in assist rate, something that they’ve done in two out of the last three seasons. Winston is the catalyst for that. His 7.3 assists per game are once again tops in the Big Ten and tied for fourth in the country. His assist rate of 41.4 percent ranks sixth nationally. Simply put, he’s one of the best distributors in the country.

But that’s not what Michigan State needs him to do if they hope to make a deep run in March. To do that, Winston will have to continue being the primary scorer for the Spartans, something he’s had to step up and do time and time again this year. His 18.8 points per game are the highest on the team, and he’s upped his game during conference play to 19.7 points per contest against Big Ten opponents.

Now that Josh Langford has been officially ruled out for the season, the load on Winston’s shoulder increases. Langford was the Spartans’ third leading scorer at 15 points per game before being sidelined with an ankle injury. Through nine games without Langford, Winston has shown he’s up to the task.

In Langford’s absence, the Spartans have gone 7-2, with both losses coming within the last 10 days to Purdue and Indiana. During that stretch, Winston has averaged almost 21 points per game and over seven assists. He’s doing that while shooting over 50 percent from the field and just under 50 percent (23-of-50) from three point range. In Saturday night’s overtime loss to Indiana, Winston played 44 of the possible 45 minutes, scoring a game-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals. In the Loss to Purdue, he put up a 23/7/8/2 line.

Michigan State isn’t currently being talked about in the top tier of national title contenders, but maybe that’s a good thing. In recent years like 2016 and 2018, the Spartans entered the tournament as popular choices to win it all before flaming out early. Perhaps it’s best for them to be flying under the radar. They’re on track to be on one of the top seed lines, and there are plenty of opportunities to boost their resume down the stretch of Big Ten play.

But their postseason success will likely come down to whether or not Cassius Winston can continue to be the guy. He’s currently ranked No. 9 on KenPom’s Player of the Year leaderboard, and he’ll almost assuredly be in the mix for an abundance of Big Ten accolades. The NCAA Tournament will be his chance for a coming out party though. And if he continues to play like he has, Winston is capable of leading Michigan State on a run deep into March.