On Saturday, Cassius Winston handed out 9 assists during Michigan State’s 79-55 victory over Minnesota at the Breslin Center. Winston now finds himself nearing the top of the Spartan heap in one of the most important statistical categories in college basketball.
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Cassius Winston has been an absolute warrior beast all season.
As we’ve mentioned before here on SpartansWire, he’s in the process of putting up numbers that line up with two other Spartan floor generals who cut down the final net of the season – here’s the last time we referred to this dynamic that continues on its evolution as the season moves along –
On Saturday, during Michigan State’s 79-55 win over Minnesota, Winston achieved a milestone that sort of causes one to stop in his/her tracks.
Winston had 9 assists against the Gophers.
Cassius now has a total of 601 assists in his career as a Spartan.
A friendly reminder that Winston is a junior and has another full season in East Lansing ahead of him.
Cassius Winston is only the fourth player in Michigan State history to reach 600 assists in his career.
The other three are, in order:
- Mateen Cleaves – 816
- Scott Skiles – 645
- Denzel Valentine – 639
Reaching Mateen Cleaves at 816 might be a tall order – although it’s also not crazy to think that he can get there.
With 7 more regular season games to play, at least 1 Big Ten Tournament game to play, and at least 1 NCAA Tournament game to play, it’s not crazy to envision Winston passing Scott Skiles on the all time list before this season comes to a complete close.
It’s an astounding achievement – well before his junior season has concluded, Winston is within reach of becoming the the second all time assists leader in Michigan State history.
Not bad.
And, yes, it’s a tall order – but it’s possible that when Cassius finishes up his career as a Spartan a little over a year from now, he’ll be the #1 assist man in the history of Michigan State’s storied basketball program.
Not bad at all.
