Wolverine TV: Game clips of On300 Michigan DB commit Kainoa Winston

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland was on the road last week and saw On300 Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga safety and Michigan commit Kainoa Winston in game action.

Watch full highlights in the video at the end of this story.

Winston Recruitment

Michigan secured a commitment from Winston in early June.

Penn State was considered the leader for Winston for the majority of the process. He made several visits to Happy Valley and his cousin, KJ, plays for the Nittany Lions.

However, Michigan made him a top priority this cycle and wowed him on his unofficial visit in the spring. The Wolverines built even more momentum with Winston when he returned to Ann Arbor for his official visit shortly before he made his final decision.

Here is what Holland had to say about his recruitment.

“Kainoa was my highest graded Michigan defensive commit going into the season, and that hasn’t changed after seeing him,” Holland said. “Kainoa had a great in-game performance. He’s on the smaller side, but he plays much bigger than his size. He’s physical and spends a lot of his time in the box and around the line of scrimmage. He only saw the ball thrown in his vicinity once, and it resulted in an interception. Kainoa has a high floor and should be an early contributor at Michigan.”

At 5-foot-10, 184 pounds, Winston is ranked as the No. 10 safety and No. 109 overall prospect nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He is also ranked as the No. 1 overall recruit in Washington D.C. this cycle.

Michigan has 16 commits in its 2025 recruiting class — Top 100 Katy (Texas) Jordan wide receiver Andrew Marsh, Top 100 Center Valley (Pa.) Southern Lehigh tight end Andrew Olesh, Top 100 Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange safety Ivan Taylor, Top 100 Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga defensive back Kainoa Winston, On300 Fort Myers (Fla.) Bishop Verot quarterback Carter Smith, On300 Alpharetta (Ga.) High EDGE Julius Holly, On300 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy running back Donovan Johnson, On300 Kilgore (Texas) High cornerback Jayden Sanders, four-star New Orleans (La.) Archbishop Shaw wide receiver Jacob Washington, four-star Palatine (Ill.) High EDGE Jaylen Williams, four-star Birmingham (Mich.) Groves offensive lineman Avery Gach, four-star Howell (Mich.) High defensive lineman Bobby Kanka, three-star New Orleans (La.) Archbishop Shaw running back Jasper Parker, three-star Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy offensive lineman Kaden Strayhorn, three-star Stockbridge (Ga.) High linebacker Chase Taylor and three-star Alcoa (Tenn.) High tight end Eli Owens.

The class entered the day ranked No. 14 nationally and No. 4 in the Big Ten, per the On3 Industry national team recruiting rankings. The Wolverines currently sit behind Ohio State, USC and Oregon.