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Craig Winder played NCAA Division I basketball at Texas, seeing action in the 2005–06 season before returning in 2006–07 to finish his Longhorns career as a senior guard, after transferring into the program prior to his junior year.

Winder appeared in 22 games for Texas in 2005–06, averaging 1.0 points in 5.4 minutes per game while shooting 24.2% from the field, 21.4% from three-point range, and 50.0% at the free-throw line, and he averaged 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game as part of a team that reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

In his first season on the Forty Acres, he recorded a career-high eight rebounds and three steals in 19 minutes against Louisiana-Monroe on November 26, then posted a season-best six points on December 22 versus Texas State by going 2-for-4 from three while adding four rebounds and three more steals in 16 minutes, and he was one of seven Longhorns to earn a place on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (minimum 3.0 GPA).

As a senior in 2006–07, Winder played in 30 games and finished the year ranking fifth on the team in steals (21) and seventh in assists (16), converting 14-of-19 free throws, while averaging 2.2 points in 7.4 minutes per game on 48.0% shooting from the field, 17.6% from three, and 73.7% at the line, with 1.6 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, and he was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team as Texas advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round.

He opened the 2006–07 season on November 9 versus Alcorn State with then-career highs of 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting along with three assists, three steals, and 19 minutes, and on November 21 against Nicholls State he delivered a season-high seven rebounds while adding two blocks, four points, and 13 minutes, before matching his career high of three steals again in a December 16 game against Texas State.

Winder’s most prominent stretch came during the 2007 Big 12 Championship, where he averaged 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game across three games while adding four assists with no turnovers and five steals, highlighted by a career-best eight points on 4-of-4 shooting against Baylor in the March 9 quarterfinal as he scored four of those points in the final four minutes including the game-tying and go-ahead baskets, then set his Big 12 career high with five rebounds in a March 10 semifinal win over Oklahoma State, and he followed that with five points, five rebounds, and a career-high 22 minutes against Kansas in the March 11 title game before averaging 4.0 points across Texas’ two NCAA Tournament games.

Across his two seasons at Texas, Winder played in 52 games overall and was part of two NCAA Tournament teams, completing his Longhorns career as a two-year letterwinner in a backup role while contributing steals, spot minutes, and late-season tournament play during the 2006 Elite Eight run and the 2007 NCAA Tournament appearance.