Tuesday July 20th, 2021 – Guard Christian Winborne announced today that he is committing to Saint Joseph’s University (SJU). The 6’3″ point guard from Gilman announced via twitter his commitment to SJU tweeting, “Proud to announce that I have committed to Saint Joseph’s University! #THWND’.
Winborne, who is ranked 32nd among point guards according to 247 Sports, is the first commit to Saint Joseph’s for the 2022 recruiting class. As a point guard, Winborne should contribute to the Hawks roster with his passing, ball handling, and shooting skills, all three of which are important to running Coach Lange’s pace and space offenses.
Winborne’s highlights online illustrate how versatile he is in both the full and half court. His shooting form looks solid and should only require minor adjustments in order to become consistent shooting threat. In addition, Winborne has good court vision and can easily find open players within the half court.
Adding to What SJU Needs
Last season Saint Joe’s struggled to generate points in the half court. The team relied heavily on Jordan Hall and Ryan Daly to either score on their own or create open looks for their teammates. If that didn’t work, the team would simply swing the ball around the 3-point line until the shot clock ran out. The half court offense would stagnate quickly if either three point shots won’t fall, or if players are unable to drive to the rim on their own.
Because of this, the addition of Christian Winborne is significant news. Coach Lange needs more players who can dribble, drive and shoot. Lange’s scheme can only work if all five players can create their on shot, or facilitate for teammates. It’s an offense that needs all players to have full court vision and good decision makings skills; otherwise bad shots and turnovers plague the offense. Each player needs to be a quick thinking fluid point guard, rather than specialists in rigid half court sets.
Erik Reynolds is the newest arrival at Saint Joe’s who will help in this category. He will provide much relief for both Jordan Hall and Cameron Brown in 2021-2022. However, Lange now has another guard in the pipeline who promises to bring more support in the facilitator & scorer as we look toward past 2022. A growing pipeline of good point guards should make all SJU fans extremely pleased, as Coach Lange continues his recruiting hot streak.
