By Steve DiMiceli
Quevyn Winters played a role at the end of the season I expected from day one. I thought he would start, play about 25 minutes a game and provide a 3rd or 4th scoring option. He came on at the end and at least provided that spark for part of the season. Unfortunately, it was too little too late for the team.
Winters jumped out of the gate and had a fairly strong start. He was named to the Progressive Legends Classic All- pod team. Then there was a bit of a lull and his playing time decreased likely due to consistency issues, turnovers and an over reliance on his three point shot. Thanks to the fallout from the GW blowout, he was thrust into the starting lineup to stay. Since then, he's averaged 13.1 points and 4 plus rebounds. Winters had a very good season for a freshman though it was somewhat
muted by outstanding year Derrick Colter put together. He was certainly one of the ten best freshman in the league. More minutes sooner and he probably could have earned some consideration for the all frosh team.
What I liked
Quevyn is a versatile player who can run in transition, shoot the three and from time to time, score off the dribble. He was very useful breaking down the 2-3 zone early in the season. He seems to want the big shot and relishes the opportunity to tie or jump ahead when the team is down.
What I didn't like
Quevyn seemed to struggle with the speed of the college game at both ends of the floor. He often got completely lost in traffic when defending the perimeter early in the season. His on and off ball defense against smaller players leaves much to be desired. His passing seemed to be a step slow or it missed the mark. He struggled with TO's although I do think he has good vision overall. At times, he relied too much on his 3 point shot.
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I said at the beginning of the year that Winters looked like former Dayton player Chris Johnson. I stand by that comparison and I actually think in some ways he looks better than Johnson did as a freshman. He has the potential to be an all league small forward with the versatility and toughness to also play the 4. The Dukes will need Winters to become reliable finisher and threat from three if they hope to have success in the next few seasons. I enjoyed watching him develop this year and I'm looking for him to continuing to get better year over year.
And oh yeah, #WintersIsComing
