Top-100 safety Kainoa Winston names top four schools

Montgomery Village (Md.) Gonzaga four-star safety Kainoa Winston has trimmed his list of top schools down to four, he tells On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Oregon, Penn State, Michigan and North Carolina made the cut for the 5-foot-10.5, 184-pounder.

Winston is the No. 96 overall prospect and No. 10 safety in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the top-ranked player in the D.C. area.

The rising defensive back will take official visits to each of his four finalists. Michigan is up first this weekend, with Penn State (June 7), Oregon (June 14) and UNC (June 21) to follow. Winston also visited each program this spring.

His return to Ann Arbor in the coming days will follow a successful trip logged earlier this year. He told TheWolverine earlier this month that he’s keeping consistent contact with the U-M staff, including defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, secondary coach LaMar Morgan and Director of Recruiting Sam Popper.

“I like the defense they run,” Winston said. “I see myself as a safety and nickel. I can be a gadget guy — like a plug and play type of dude. Wherever they see me fitting in, I can do that. I’m really coachable.”

Winston locked in his official visit with Oregon soon after he returned from his spring trip to Eugene. Ducks recruiting insider Justin Hopkins liked where Dan Lanning and Co. were trending for the top-100 recruit back in March.

I did get a chance to talk to Winston … really receptive to Coach Hampton and how they use their DBs — and not to mention that there is a need for safety in this cycle,” Hopkins told On3’s Josh Newberg. “I think all those things line up well for Oregon. I wouldn’t dare say that they lead or anything like this after the first visit, but getting him back on campus and continuing to build that relationship, Duck fans need to watch this one for sure.”

Penn State currently has the slight edge for Winston in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM). He’s taken a slew of trips to Happy Valley since last summer and can envision himself playing under Nittany Lions safeties coach Anthony Poindexter.

“He’s someone that I think anyone would want to get coached by,” Winston previously said of Poindexter to BWI. “We were chopping it up during lunch and I felt like I knew him for years. He also taught me some things during the day in and outside of football.”