MBB1/27/2018 1:00 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Fast Break: Deschon Winston
With nine newcomers on this year's Cal Men's Basketball roster, there are plenty of fresh faces to get to know among the Golden Bears. This season, the Fast Break is bringing five key facts about a Cal newcomer to CalBears.com. Next up in the series is Los Angeles product Deschon Winston, who shares a connection with another LA kid on the Golden Bear roster.
1. Hello, Old Friend
Upon signing with Cal last Spring, Winston was reunited with a familiar face in Juhwan Harris-Dyson, who was his high school teammate as a freshman and sophomore. Halfway through their high school careers, both transferred to different schools and became friendly rivals.
"It was fun because even when we were warming up, I would just look over to the other side, and he would look back, and I would just smile because it was just like playing basketball at the park," he said.
"It's interesting because I played my first high school basketball game with him [Juhwan], my first varsity basketball game with him, and I played my first college basketball game with him. We've just been on the same team forever," Winston added.
2. Ping Pong Aficionado
Outside of basketball, his biggest hobby is playing ping pong, which started with a simple gift from his dad that led to nights of competitiveness between Winston and his siblings.
"My dad bought a ping pong table and all four of my brothers and I used to stay up late in the garage and play competitively. No one liked to lose, and everyone wanted to get better, so it was a lot of fun," he said.
Winston even gets to continue to enjoy his hobby in Berkeley with a ping pong table located in the dorms.
3. Acting Up
As a  child, Winston enjoyed a stint as a child actor and model. After accompanying his sister to an audition, the talent agency was smitten with Winston and recruited him. He was featured in various advertisements for companies, along with appearing in a few television programs.
"I was in ER, I was in McDonald's commercials, I was a Gerber baby, I was in Target billboards, Levi's ads, and a bunch of commercials," he said.
4. Oh, Crepe!
Winston's favorite food? Crepes.
"I just have a sweet tooth. I like fruit, and I like breakfast, so they put it all together in one, and it's like, 'Wow this is something special'," he shared. "My ideal crepe is probably Nutella, strawberries, bananas and blueberries with powdered sugar and whipped cream."
5. Family Matters
Winston comes from a large family, with one full blood sister, two foster brothers, three stepsisters and one stepbrother. Although he loved competing against his siblings in ping pong, he was able to share a special memory with them in high school.
"Winning the city championship in high school was so much fun because my three brothers were on the same team, so it was just fun playing with my brothers and stuff like that," he said.
Bonus:
Favorite Social Media Site: Instagram
Favorite TV Show: The Boondocks
Favorite Current Artist: A Boogie wit da Hoodie
Favorite Artist of all-time: Drake
Favorite Spot in Berkeley: Moffitt Library nap pods
