JMU men’s basketball coach Matt Brady announced on Wednesday the signing of transfer All-American guard Winston Grays to a national letter of intent to join the Dukes for the 2014-15 academic year.
“He’s a young guy we’ve been aware of for quite some time,” commented Brady upon Grays’ signing. “He had a terrific second year, in fact he had two great years of junior college. He’s a really fluid basketball player with a high basketball IQ and he makes the extra pass. Really, he can play a couple of different positions, including point guard. He’s a very team-oriented player and a guy who’s been interested in us for a while.”
A prolific scorer, Grays spent the last two years as the leading point contributor and team MVP at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in his native Ohio. The 6-foot, 2-inch guard was named a First Team National Junior College Athletic Association Division II All-American after averaging 20.2 points per game. He led the Surge to a 29-5 record, a share of the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) title with a league record of 11-1 and a fifth-place finish in the NJCAA national tournament.
The Player of the Year in the OCCAC, Grays also averaged 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.6 steals in 28.1 minutes per game while shooting 45 percent overall from the field and 35.6 percent from the arc for an average of 2.2 made 3-pointers per game. He was eighth nationally with 85 total steals and 39th in scoring while finishing as the program’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,144 points in two seasons. As a team, Cincinnati State was second nationally in steals and fourth in scoring, largely thanks to his contributions.
In his first year in 2012-13, the Surge went 21-9 overall with Grays leading the way with 16.5 points per game. He added 3.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.6 steals in 27.2 minutes per game while shooting 44 percent overall and 42 percent from the arc.
As a senior at Cleveland’s Benedictine High School, Grays led the Bengals to the 2012 Ohio High School Athletic Association semifinals and earned Second Team All-Conference and Third Team All-District accolades. He averaged 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals in his final scholastic campaign.
Grays is the third newcomer to sign with the Dukes for 2014-15, joining a pair of incoming freshmen. Hari Hall is a 6-foot, 7-inch forward from Jacksonville, Florida, while Dante Sterling is a 6-foot, 5-inch guard from Atlanta, Georgia.
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Chris Graham
