GREENVILLE, S.C. – The NCCAA is honored to recognize Clayton Winter of Asbury University as the 2025 Pete Maravich Award recipient for Division I Men’s Basketball.
 
A native of Wilmore, Kentucky, Winter has averaged 10.4 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game in his career. He has been fantastic on the defensive end, recording 61 steals and 39 blocks, and has dished out 166 assists. The Graduate Student has started in at least 20 games in each season and set the school record for most rebounds in a game on December 16, 2023, with a 32-rebound game against Crowley’s Ridge College. Winter was the 2023-24 NCCAA Division I Mideast Co-Regional Player of the Year and is just the third Asbury men’s basketball player in program history to score 1,000 points and haul in 1,000 boards in a career.
 
In the classroom, Winter holds a 4.0 GPA while majoring in health and physical education. An NCCAA Scholar-Athlete, Winter has the unique honor of also being a full-time teacher at Wilmore Elementary School while being a force at center for the Eagles.
 
Winter is also a member of Wilmore United Free Methodist Church, where he teaches Sunday School, helps with Vacation Bible School, and helps mow the grounds. 
 
“Clayton is a major reason the community of Wilmore comes to support the men’s basketball team,” says Asbury University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Will Shouse. “He is a physical presence wherever he goes. But most importantly, his ability to handle the life of a husband, student, teacher, and basketball player at a high level is an example of his leadership. He uses all these things to glorify God and is called to do his best at each role.”
 
Other Nominees 
Reece Johnson, College of the Ozarks
 
Award Description 
“Pistol Pete” Maravich was known for his ball handling, shooting abilities, and creative passing.  Maravich set several collegiate records and was the 1970 Player of the Year.  He was an NBA All-Star, named one of NBA’s 50 greatest players, and inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.  He came to know Christ later in his life and spent the last years of his life pointing people to Christ.   He wanted to be remembered for serving Jesus to the utmost, rather than his basketball legacy.