By Kyle Penn
Any spectator can come to a home CCSU Men’s basketball game and witness that Kyle Vinales is one of the program’s most elite players. What is even more impressive is that he is only in his sophomore season.
Before coming to CCSU, Vinales, originally from Detroit, played his senior season at Phelps School in Pennsylvania. There he averaged 25.7 points per game, which earned him the honors of being on the All-Oakland County Team and being named to Second Team All-State.
According to Head Coach Howie Dickenman it was not only Vinales’ skill, but also his work ethic that caught his eye.
“He always did very well in the practices,” Dickenman said. “I was told he practiced Sunday mornings at 6 a.m. so I drove down there one morning and got there around quarter-of six and he was already in the gym.”
That hard work mentality Vinales possesses carried over when he arrived at CCSU to play as a Blue Devil.
“He’s a perfectionist and no one works harder than him during the off-season,” said Dickenman. “He stays after every practice. He really knows how to work and he wants to be the best that he can be.”
Now CCSU players, coaches and fans alike can see the hard work paying off as Vinales has broken a few CCSU program records and is climbing his way up in others. On Feb. 14, at Wagner Vinales scored a career-high 42 points to become the fastest player ever in program history to reach 1,000 career points, taking him just 52 games. The previous record was 68 games and was held by the all-time scoring leader at CCSU Ken Horton. His 42 points also set the record for the most points in a game for CCSU at the Division-I level.
The scoring numbers don’t stop there. On Feb. 28 he scored 19 points in an 84-81 double-overtime win against St. Francis (PA) to become just the fourth player in school history to score at least 600 points in a single season. That game also marked his scoring in double figures in 32 of his last 34 games, dating back to the previous season. Last season Vinales led all freshmen in scoring at the D-1 level with 520 total points, which was an average of 17.9 per game. That broke the record for most points by a CCSU freshman, and earned him the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year award.
Another record he can potentially hold on his own is that no player in the previous 16 seasons under Dickenman has averaged more than 20 points per game for an entire season. As of March 2 Vinales is averaging 22 points per game, which ranks sixth nationally for all of D-1 teams.
“I’m a score-first type of player,” Vinales said. “I like having the ball in my hands and getting it into the basket.”
Despite being a high-rate scorer for the Blue Devils, he also leads the team in assists, averaging 3.9 per game this season. Only six players in school history have scored 500 points and dished out 100 assists in a single season. Vinales is the first player in school history to do it twice.
“Yeah I like to score, but I like getting the other guys involved, too,” Vinales said. “We’ll do whatever we have to do to get a win.”
According to Vinales, the team doesn’t believe in a captain system, and therefore do not elect any team captains. But according to Dickenman, Vinales has emerged as a leader for the team.
“He’s taken some responsibilities and leadership. He leads by example,” Dickenman said. “He’s always there [after practice] and the kids look at him and they think that if Kyle [Vinales] is there they should be too.”
It is easy to see the passion he has for the game while watching him play. Dickenman acknowledges Vinales’ strong emotions, and he believes that Vinales puts himself on a higher level than others.
“He gets very upset when he doesn’t play well and when the team loses. He’s not mad at anyone in particular, it’s just disappointment in himself,” Dickenman said. “He holds himself to a higher standard.”
As of March 2 Vinales has led CCSU to a 13-16 overall, 9-9 in NEC record. They have officially qualified for the NEC tournament for the 15th straight year, which is the longest active streak in the conference. The Blue Devils ended their regular season with a loss at home against conference leader Robert Morris on March 2.