ALBION, Michigan -- About a dozen times a day, trains run through this town situated in the center of the Lower Peninsula region of Michigan. Superior Street, the main artery, rumbles.
Some of the 8,616 residents know Albion's history by heart. In the late 1800s, Juliet Calhoun Blakeley, a temperance movement advocate, hosted one of the first Mother's Day celebrations in the country here. At the Bohm Theatre, located on the city's main strip, you can watch a movie or listen to locals play the blues on a Thursday night. It's also the place where notorious gangster Al Capone would meet with his Purple Gang in the 1920s, using the town as a central hub for the illegal business they conducted between Chicago and Detroit.
Albion College represents the next chapter for a community now defined by higher education after the closure of an iron works that once anchored it, but the place has maintained its tight-knit vibe. Folks seem to know one another here in Albion, and many knew its local basketball star, Zach Winston.
At Albion Malleable Brewing Company, a popular restaurant, the servers would tell the kitchen to cook up a plate of wings, buffalo sauce on the side, whenever Zach showed up. He always ordered the same meal. Through the large windows toward the front of the restaurant, they would see the sophomore walking to practice or a game and wave. He'd wave back.
Winston, 19, was the middle member of a trio of basketball-playing brothers. The youngest, Khy, a freshman, was Zach's teammate at Division III Albion College. Their oldest brother, Cassius, was 50 miles northeast, a preseason All-American at Michigan State with legitimate NBA dreams. Cassius is one of college basketball's brightest stars; Zach was one of the most popular people on campus.
When the Spartans played Albion in an exhibition game in October, Zach, who wasn't playing because of injury, trash-talked Cassius from the bench and cheered on Khy. He and his brothers even had a "Game of Thrones" group chat with specific rules: watch the new episode by the end of the night, or prepare for spoilers the next morning. They knew how to frustrate Zach. Cassius and Khy treated their brother's bad jokes as if they were field goal attempts, telling him he was "0-for-1" whenever a joke failed to land.
While some younger brothers hate to live in the shadow of their older brothers, Khy didn't mind -- the three were poised to write their next chapter together.
But nearly two weeks after that exhibition game, the Winston family was forever altered. On Nov. 9, Zach was struck and killed by an Amtrak train near Albion College. Albion Department of Public Safety officials said he intentionally stepped in front of the train, according to their interview with the on-site engineer and based on additional police investigation. The Winston family, including parents Reg and Wendi, have not discussed the details surrounding Zach's death, but Cassius memorialized his brother in an Instagram post.
Zach's passing rocked the entire community; they loved the gregarious athlete who kept his friends smiling and enjoyed working as a campus tour guide for incoming freshmen and their families. The Winston family has tried to find a way to move forward. Cassius, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, will end his collegiate career with more than 2,000 points and 900 assists. And, on Sunday, Cassius and Khy will walk onto the Breslin Center floor together to celebrate the end of Cassius' Michigan State career on Senior Day.
There will continue to be varying stages of grief, grief that will not completely subside with time. But one thing has helped the two brothers take those first steps forward.
"That's how we did cope," Khy said of him and his family. "By getting back on the basketball court."
Albion junior forward Caden Ebeling would often return to the apartment he shared with Zach and find clothes strewn about his bed.
Zach, always fashionable, often borrowed Ebeling's outfits. Jamezell Davis Jr., a standout guard and one of Zach's best friends on the team, competed with him in the shoe game. He wears the Yeezys because Zach had them first. They were both tough, left-handed players, and they bonded over that, too.
Zach's absence immediately changed Albion. "He was the voice of our team," Ebeling said. "We had to figure out how to get through our practices without him there."
And Khy had to get through the next phase of his life without one of his best friends.
Khy took a break from basketball after Zach's death, choosing to return home and stay with his parents in Detroit. When he did return more than a month later for a road game against Marietta University in Lexington, Kentucky, the emotions seemed to hit Khy all at once.
"We were going over the scouting report and I was just sitting there crying," he said. "The support that they give me is tremendous. They understand sometimes I have bad times. They're there but they also let me have my bad days. They don't try to force me out of my bad days."
At a recent practice, the 6-foot-4 freshman stroked shots from the left and right sides of the floor. He played tough defense. He also giggled with his teammates, something he couldn't do when he first returned to the team.
"For me, it was a lot of quiet practices," Khy said. "I didn't have a lot of enthusiasm."
On the good days, Khy said he remembers Zach's optimism. On the bad days, he wrestles with everything that has unfolded over the past four months for him and his family. When that happens, Khy said the team and community lend their support.
Albion head coach Jody May has tried to keep his team unified while fighting through his own emotions. He told his team about his own struggles, which has helped players and coaches be more willing to express their feelings.
"At some point, I told them, 'I don't even know how to coach you,'" May said. "[I am] just trying to be honest with them. ... No one knows what the right thing to do is. With relationships and with honesty, you try to do your best."
The proximity of the brothers' schools meant all the Winstons were fixtures in the Michigan State locker room. "Cassius was officially on our team, but his two younger brothers were unofficially on our team," MSU assistant Dane Fife said. "Zach and Khy were always with us here."
A recent postgame locker room scene at Michigan State felt more like a social gathering. Cassius, often surrounded by those closest to him, wore a wide smile after his 32-point outing in an 87-69 home victory against the Spartans' biggest rival, Michigan.
"[Basketball] has just been a safe haven, a place to bring me and my family together," he said. "It's tough out there at times. But it's been a great place for me to clear my head and get back to something that I love and enjoy."
To his left, a foursome of friends and relatives sat in a circle and chuckled as he answered more questions. Cassius would occasionally look their way as if they had all shared an inside joke, and they'd laugh again. To his right, Khy was plopped on a stool, thumbing through his phone.
Michigan State could secure a top-four seed on Selection Sunday and make a run at coach Tom Izzo's second national title and the league's first crown in 20 years. Cassius has competed through his sorrow with a determination that has baffled those around him.
"I don't think any of us will ever be able to appreciate what that kid has gone through and how he's handled it," Izzo said. "What I constantly watch for every day is, when is it a bad day? When is it a bad day, because there'll be some bad days."
Khy has also pushed through the season, taking steps of progression as a young player. He has the frame and touch to blossom into a star. "He defends our best player [in practice]," May said. "He comes to practice every day with a smile on his face. He leaves with a smile on his face."
Two weeks ago, Albion College won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association title, the program's first conference championship in 15 years, while overcoming what May called "really rocky times."
The team draped Zach's jersey over a seat on the bench before every game after dedicating the season to his memory.
"Everything that I do, every time that I stop to think, he's there," Khy said. "His mark will always be everywhere to me. Everything I do, he's there."