Efrem Zimbalist Winters (December 19, 1963 – January 27, 2025) was an American college basketball player for the Illinois Fighting Illini.
[2][3] Winters was recruited to play college basketball at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign after high school and was a member of the varsity from 1982 to 1986.
During his freshman season, Winters played alongside future NBA great Derek Harper as well as Illinois' all-time leader in steals and assists, guard Bruce Douglas, freshman guard Doug Altenberger, freshman forward Scott Meents, sophomore forward George Montgomery and sophomore forward Anthony Welch to form the nucleus for a team that would advance to the NCAA tournament every year.
Individually, Winters led the team in scoring while being second in blocked shots and rebounding to teammate George Montgomery.
[4] Illinois' loss to Kentucky would cause the NCAA to initiate a rule not allowing a school to host a tournament game on its own court.
Winters, on the other hand, would not be able to recreate the same magical sophomore season results, finishing third on the team in scoring, but first in blocked shots and rebounding.
Winters and the Illini would gain a fourth consecutive bid to the NCAA tournament, receiving a #4 seed in the Southeast Regional.
[11] Winters was invited to tryouts for the men's basketball team in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics, but did not make the first cut of 32 players.
[12][13] He was selected in the fourth round of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks as the 88th overall pick,[14] but was cut during the preseason and never played in the league.