Coming out of Cleveland, Ohio, Deja Winters was a heralded high school prospect, averaging 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals during her senior season.
Winters would ultimately settle on attending Seton Hall, where she found instant success. She was named Big East freshman of the week twice, averaging 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game throughout the season.
She would play one more season with the Pirates before choosing to enter her name into the transfer portal. After sitting out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules at the time, the 5-foot-11 guard had two more seasons to compete for NC A&T.
After averaging a respectable 11.8 points along with 4.4 rebounds in her redshirt junior campaign, she broke out as a redshirt senior averaging 14.1 points per game, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals en route to earning First-Team All-MEAC honors.
Winters was granted one more season of college basketball due to the NCAA creating a COVID-19 exception rule which gave each player an additional season of eligibility. So, she decided to transfer to the University of Minnesota.
“My teammates, as soon as I got here, were open arms and made me comfortable. They were always lifting me up, even when I’m down,” Winters said. “I think we do that very well with each other, we’re really big on that.”
It was a bit of a mixed bag early on with Minnesota for Winters. She played less than 20 minutes twice in the first four games of the season, something she had only done a handful of times since her time with Seton Hall, but she was still able to show her potential.
After a 17-point, 8-rebound performance against George Washington on Nov. 14, she finally began to look comfortable at her new school.
“She’s been with us since the summer, and then it kinda ramps up. Her familiarity with our system, she has just gotten more comfortable,” Gophers head coach Lindsay Whalen said. “I think getting comfortable and more familiar with the stuff we run and getting comfortable with her teammates. It’s a process coming to a new team.”
Starting in 19 of the 24 games this season, Winters have averaged 11.3 points-per-game and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting an outstanding 41.4% from beyond the three-point arc.
She has also been one of the team’s best defensive players, averaging a team-high 1.5 steals and 1 block in each game.
The Gophers have struggled over the last month of the season, winning only two of their last seven contests, but Winters’ veteran leadership has been huge for a team that is looking for answers.
“We can really hang with anybody in this league when we come to play. When we’re focused and we’re locked in,” Winters said.
Minnesota did just that on Feb. 3 against No. 5 ranked Indiana. It led for most of the contest until the upset bid ultimately fell short.
With only five games remaining until the Big Ten Tournament, March 2-6, leadership from veteran players like Winters will be instrumental for Minnesota’s hopes of making a run in March.
mndaily.com