Cassius Winston, Michigan State's new point guard prospect, plays 'well beyond his years'

DETROIT -- At first glance, Michigan State's point guard of the future looks like he's far older than a senior in high school.

But that's not why his high school coach says Cassius Winston has "old man game."

"He plays well beyond his years," Detroit U-D Jesuit coach Pat Donnelly said. "He's not a jet athletically, but he's so smart and intelligent, he can get by guys that are faster and quicker than him."

That type of play is what Michigan State fans can expect starting next fall, after Winston, the 6-foot-2, 194-pound four-star point guard, announced his verbal commitment to the Spartans for 2016 late last week.

The Winston commitment ends a lengthy search for the school's first top 50 point guard since Keith Appling in 2010. In between, the Spartans came close with the likes of Tyler Ulis and Tyus Jones, but missed out on both.

The only current point guard on Michigan State's roster is Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn, a recruit who came to East Lansing last summer ranked outside the top 100, but took over a starting position in February and helped lead the Spartans to a Final Four.

But Nairn's also the only current point guard on the Spartans' roster. Adding Winston to the roster next year gives the Spartans a pair of true point guards for two years. Winston said when he called Tom Izzo to announce his commitment, his future head coach let out a "Yay."

"He was pretty excited," Winston said.

Winston averaged 22.3 points, 7.1 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game as a junior for the Cubs. He has scored more than 1,200 points in his three year career and recorded nearly 500 assists.

But he doesn't cite those numbers when asked what makes him a Tom Izzo point guard. To answer that, Winston references his two straight appearances in the Class A state semifinals.

"I win games," Winston said. "Any coach wants you to win games, that's exactly what I do."

As to how he's done that, Donnelly said it's by being a "phenomenal passer and facilitator."

Izzo first started showing up at U-D Jesuit's gym back after Winston's freshman year. Since then, Donnelly said the longtime Michigan State coach has referred to Winston as the best high school passer he's seen since Magic Johnson on several occasions.

Winston's class of 2016 could end up as the highest-ranked of Izzo's tenure. The newest member of it will be the one tasked with keeping all of its members involved.

"People love to play with Cassius Winston because he's so unselfish," Donnelly said. "He gets everybody involved. I think that's what Michigan State is getting. They are getting a great lead guard that is going to lead them to I think a lot of wins and, hopefully, I'm going to support him to the end and I hope they get a national championship when he's there."

-- Follow MLive Sports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.