Christian Winborne’s recruitment is hitting its stride
We’re almost a full month since AAU events officially tipped off, which is enough time to start checking in with some of our top prospects. 2022 Gilman/Team Thrill point guard Christian Winborne Christian Winborne 6'2" | CG Gilman | 2022 State #199 Nation MD entered this spring with a few offers from high major programs, but a bulk of high major programs remained on the line of interested and ready to pull the trigger on an official offer. His play this spring has validated to many that he is worthy at the high major level and you can expect the attention to keep rolling in.
“We’re doing pretty good as a team, I just think that in order for us to come together as a unit is we just need more practice time,” Winborne told Prep Hoops. “School is still in session right now and we have three players that’s still down in Florida during the week. We’ve only had two practices as a full team, so I think once that comes together, we’re going to be way better than where we are. Individually I can say that I’m having a pretty productive AAU season. I just picked up offers from St. Joseph’s, Rutgers and VCU, so my recruitment is picking up a little bit more.”
Winborne is expected to produce in every way possible for his high school team in order for them to be competitive. Now surrounded by a number of highly regarded prospects in the 2022 class, he gets to settle in and showcase his true point guard skills on a more consistent basis.
“I’ll be honest, it’s a little more of a challenge just because I’m figuring out how to play with great players. For my high school team I have to do almost everything as where now I have to find my role and perform within it. I’ve been having a blast with it, though. My teammates make it a whole lot easier with how good they are. The scoring aspect has been the biggest difference. During the high school season I’m getting doubled and even triple teamed a whole lot. Now that I’m with other guys who the defense has to focus on, it opens the court up for me to make plays not only for myself but my teammates as well.”
Team Thrill hasn’t been shy about matching up against top programs of any circuit, which means Winborne has had his fair share of games going up against future high major guard prospects.
“My initial mindset in those game are just to go out there and have some fun, man. At the end of the day, basketball is a sport and you should have fun playing it. To add onto that, it’s just going out there and competing as hard as I can because at the end of the day, the work that you put in is going to show. That’s what I try to do. No matter if I’m having a good game or a bad game, I want to make sure I can put my team in the best position to win that game,” Winborne said.
The 6-foot-3 point guard has specific goals that he would like to accomplish as this summer approaches.
“I mean to be honest, my goals are team-oriented. The more we win as a team, the more we’ll get looked at. I really want to win the Under Armour Association. I think if we’re able to do that, everyone on the team will get want they want. So my only goal is set on just winning.”
Winborne holds 22 offers in total. All of the schools are doing a good job of staying in consistent communication with him, but he did tell me where he plans on taking visits in the future. Although dates have not been cemented and visits have not been crowned as official or unofficial, Northwestern, Penn, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Harvard, VCU, Virginia Tech, Yale and Saint Joseph’s. As more programs get involved this list could be adjusted or added to, but those are the core schools that Winborne will take a close look as time progresses.
Winborne currently ranks as the No. 6 overall player and the No. 1 point guard in our 2022 MD/DC player rankings. He’s used this spring as a canvas to showcase his skills as a floor general and more programs are starting to take notice.
2022 Christian Winborne |@Polothedon__| of Team Thrill @TeamThrillUAA @Baltimorebaske1 had a strong weekend at the KYDA Invite.
6’3 G excelled in ballscreen action by playmaking for others + hitting triples off the bounce. Consistently buried 3s as floor-spacing shooter as well. pic.twitter.com/o0gM9w783b
— Endless Motor Sports (@endless_motor) May 4, 2021