The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532537
PLAYER BIOS ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ MARCH 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 27 guy, but he's going to coach you well and be a father figure just like Coach Moore." Kainoa was named the Gatorade Player of the Year and the MaxPreps Player of the Year in the District of Columbia as a senior. He starred on offense, defense and special teams for Gonzaga, one of the pre- mier high school programs in the country. Michigan recruited Kainoa, the No. 9 safety and No. 91 overall recruit nation- ally per the On3 Industry Ranking, to play safety, but he has the skill set to play ev- erywhere in the secondary and make an early impact on special teams. "I told Coach Morgan that wherever he sees me, that's where I'll play," Kainoa said. "I can do whatever he needs me to do. I always played different positions. I feel like I'm very versatile. I might not be the biggest guy, but I can cover, I can play man and I can rush the passer. I'm fast, and I can hit hard. I can do a lot of things, and I don't feel like a lot of people have that skill set." Kainoa is a fantastic fit for Michigan both on and off the field. A strong student in the classroom and a culture builder, Kainoa isn't worried about early playing time or individual goals. He simply wants to put his best foot forward and help Michigan win. "One of my favorite quotes is 'I'm going to do my best, and God is going to do the rest,'" Kainoa said. "I just want to see us win. I want to keep beating Ohio State and keep winning championships." ❑ MaxPreps and Gatorade both picked Winston as the D.C. Player of the Year for 2024. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND STATISTICS Year Tackles TFL INT FF BLK 2024 71 — 2 2 2 2023 32 1 1 1 — 2022 49 4 1 — — HONORS • Gatorade Player of the Year and MaxPreps Player of the Year in D.C. as a senior. • First-team Washington Post All-Met team as a senior. • First-team All-Washington Catholic Athle c Conference as a senior and junior, and second team as a sophomore. RECRUITMENT • Pledged to Michigan June 14, 2024, a er receiving an offer in April 2023. • Commi ed to Michigan over offers from North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State and others. • Recruited by secondary coach LaMar Morgan. DID YOU KNOW? • Owns the Gonzaga school record in the 55-meter and 200-meter dashes. • Cousin, Kevin, was a safety for Penn State. • Former prep teammate of Michigan junior offensive lineman Evan Link. • Son of Kelvin and Nema Winston. • Born May 16, 2007. THEY SAID IT On3 director of scou ng and rankings Charles Power: "Kainoa Winston is an athle c, ins nctual safety prospect and an outstanding football player overall. He plays as a deep safety at Gonzaga against really strong compe on. I think the first thing that stands out is his play speed and physicality. He's a really good open-field tackler. He's like a li le missile flying around. He plays fast, lowers his shoulder, throws his body around and has a well-rounded skill set at safety. He checks the boxes in terms of his play personality, his athle cism and his toughness. He shows the ability to make plays in coverage as a deep safety. He adds value on special teams. He blocked a ton of kicks his junior year." KAINOA WINSTON SAFETY 5-11 • 194 GONZAGA PREP (D.C.) MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, MD. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 91 9 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 44 4 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 130 10 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 92 7 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ — 25 3 INDUSTRY 2025 Projection Winston was a special-teams demon at the high school level, blocking various kicks and punts. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get on the field right away in the third phase of the game. While he's not an early enrollee, Winston does have a really high floor and should be ready to play as a true freshman. He was recruited to play safety, but he could get on the field as more of a nickel early on in his career. Winston is on the shorter side, but he plays much bigger than his size. He is set to bring physicality, terrific ball skills and great natural ins ncts to Ann Arbor.