Winston Crite

Winston Arnel Crite (born June 20 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who currently trains young players. After a very successful career at Texas A&M University, Crite was drafted by the Phoenix Suns and spent two years playing in the NBA before playing professionally in Europe. At 6'7" (2.00 m) and 233 lb (106 kg), he played as a forward.

Early years

Winston Crite was born and raised in Bakersfield, California. He attended South High School Bakersfield, where, as a sophomore, he led his team to the San Joaquin Valley Champtionship. In his senior year, Crite was voted by the "Bakersfield Californian" as the All Area Player of the Year, and was later named to the All Northern California all-star team.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Coach Crite | work = | publisher = The Footworkshop Inc. | date = | url = http://www.footworkshop.com/template_layout_3.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ]

Texas A&M University (1983-1987)

Crite chose to attend Texas A&M University and play basketball under coach Shelby Metcalf. In his very first game, against Texas Lutheran in 1983-1984, Crite became the first freshman in Aggie history to post a double-double (in this case, 24 points, 15 rebounds) in his first game. Only one other Aggie freshman, Joseph Jones, has duplicated that feat.cite web | last = Texas A&M Sports Information Department | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Aggies Ready to Battle No. 10 Oklahoma State | work = | publisher = KBTX 3, Bryan-College Station (Texas) | date = | url =http://www.kbtx.com/sports/headlines/1254272.html | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ]

Crite started 118 of the 123 games of his career, and showed steady improvement throughout his four years. His freshman year (1983-1984), Crite averaged 8.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and .9 blocks per game and completed 53% of his field goal attempts. The following year he averaged 12.1 points per game, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 2.2 blocks, completing 56.7 percent of his field goals. In the 1985-1986 season, Crite completed an impressive 58.0% of his field goals, averaging 13.3 points, 8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game. By his senior season he was averaging 16.8 points, 2.0 blocks, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game, completing 56.1% of his field goals. For his accomplishments, Crite was a four-time "All Southwest West Conference" choice and was named "All Tournament" for three straight years.

Just as Crite appeared to be at the top of his game in his senior year, the team began struggling, losing nine of their last eleven games to finish the regular season 14-13. The Aggies were seeded eighth in the Southwest Conference, meaning they would open the conference tournament facing the top-seeded TCU Horned Frogs, who were ranked 15th nationally. After Crite scored thirty points in a stunning upset of TCU, the team defeated the defending tournament champion, Texas Tech before beating number two seed Baylor in the tournament championship game,cite web | last = Burson | first = Randy | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Packing for the Postseason | work = | publisher = 12th Man Foundation | date = April 2002 | url =http://www.12thmanfoundation.com/mag/Vol7/vol7no3/flashback.asp | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ] where Crite tournament's Most Valuable Player. Winning the tournament gave the Aggies an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, their last NCAA tournament appearance until 2006.

Crite holds the Aggie record as the all-time leading shot blocker (200). He is second on the school's list of leading rebounders (913) and for field goal percentage (.562). He has attempted the third-most number of free throws, with 518 attempts, and is the fourth leading Scorer in school history.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Individual Category Leaders | work = | publisher = Texas A&M University Athletic Department | date = | url =http://www.aggieathletics.com/records.php?SID=MBB | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ]

Professional basketball

Crite was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the seventh pick in the third round of the 1987 NBA Draft. [ [http://www.basketballreference.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1987&lg=N 1987 NBA Draft] , "basketballreference.com"]

In his first season, 1987-1988, Crite scored 87 points in his 29 games, averagin 3.0 points per game with 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. The following season he played for a total of only 6 minutes in two games, and made only one rebound,cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Winston Crite | work = | publisher = DatabaseBasketball.com | date = | url =http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CRITEWI01 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ] before being placed on the injured list in January 1988.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Transactions | work = | publisher = The New York Times | date = January 8, 1988 | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDB113EF93BA35752C0A96E948260 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ]

Crite played the 1989 season in Australia with the Brisbane Bullets. He made the Northern All-Stars team for the game played at the "Glasshouse" in Melbourne and played a significant second half in a narrow two point loss to the South. Crite averaged 20.8ppg at 57% from the field and 7.5 rebounds per game. He was cut from the Bullets in the 1990 season. He then spent several years playing professional basketball in Europe, earning All League honors in Spain and France. Crite was named the Most Valuable player of the French team Sceaux in 1993 (Pro-B League), and assisted his team in winning a French Championship. He was also named to The Buckler all Europe Team.

http://www.nblstats.com/players.php?playerid=10248&hyear=2003-04

Retirement

After Crite's retirement from professional basketball, he returned to his hometown of Bakersfield. He was soon approached by parents of local student-athletes to mentor and train their children.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Welcome | work = | publisher = The Footworkshop Inc. | date = | url =http://www.footworkshop.com/home.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ] In 2002, Crite and his wife Mechelle formed The Footwork Shop, Inc, a basketball training club.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Team | work = | publisher = The Footworkshop Inc. | date = | url =http://www.footworkshop.com/about_us.htm | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-02-20 ] Instead of offering more traditional league-type play, Crite's company offers year-round skill training, focusing especially on advanced footwork, without playing actual basketball games.

References

External links

* [http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=CRITEWI01 NBA statistics] @ basketballreference.com