Saddi Washington
Saddi Washington (born July 30, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He is the current men's basketball assistant coach for the Michigan basketball team.[1] He played college basketball at Western Michigan. Before becoming a collegiate assistant coach, he was a volunteer coach at Romulus Senior High School under current Alabama head coach Nate Oats.
Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Assistant coach |
Team | Michigan |
Conference | Big 10 |
Biographical details | |
Born | Lansing, Michigan | July 30, 1975
Playing career | |
1994–1998 | Western Michigan |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
2005–2006 | Romulus HS (volunteer) |
2006–2013 | Oakland (assistant) |
2013–2016 | Oakland (assoc. HC) |
2016–present | Michigan (assistant) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
As an assistant: 2× Big Ten Tournament Champions (2017, 2018) |
Playing career
Washington attended Sexton High School, where he was a four-year letter winner in basketball and track, receiving all-state recognition in both sports in 1993. Following his high school career, he went on to start at Western Michigan. In 1994, he made the Mid-American Conference (MAC) All-Freshman team after scoring 14 points per game. He was a two-time All-MAC recipient in his career, including a first-team selection in 1998. He graduated with a double major in business management and marketing.[2]
After graduation, Washington signed with the Utah Jazz and attended training camp in 1998. He attended training camps with Utah (1998 and 1999), the Denver Nuggets (2001) and the Atlanta Hawks (2004). Washington, however, never played a regular season game in the National Basketball Association.[3]
Coaching career
Early years
Washington started his coaching career by volunteering at Romulus Senior High School under current Alabama head coach Nate Oats. The team went 18–8 in 2005 with an 8–4 conference record. The season was lackluster compared to the previous season, where they had won a state championship.[4]
Oakland
In 2006, Washington joined longtime Oakland head coach Greg Kampe's basketball staff as an assistant. The team had a winning season every year from the year he got there, 2006, to 2012. On September 3, 2013, Washington was promoted to Associate Head Coach. From 2013 to 2015, the team improved on every single year.[5]
Michigan
On May 4, 2016, Washington was announced as a new assistant coach on the Michigan basketball staff under former head coach John Beilein.[6][7] He was responsible for coaching the big men, including Moritz Wagner and D. J. Wilson whom both became NBA first-round picks. He was retained under new head coach Juwan Howard in 2019.
In December 2020, Washington became the top ranked recruiter in the class of 2021 according to 247Sports Composite ranking for is involvement in the recruitment of five-star Michigan signees Moussa Diabaté and Caleb Houstan, along with four-star in-state Top100 Kobe Bufkin and Top100 point guard Frankie Collins.[8]
Personal life
He is married to Channon Washington and has two children, Sidney and Caleb. Sidney is heavily invested and highly talented in gymnastics.
References
- "Saddi Washington". MGoBlue.com. Board of Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- "Saddi Washington - Assistant Coach". University of Michigan Athletics.
- https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Saddi-Washington/Summary/1468
- Sears, Ethan. "The roads that led Saddi Washington back to Michigan". UM HOOPS.
- "OU'S SADDI WASHINGTON PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH". GoldenGrizzlies.com. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- "John Beilein Announces Billy Donlon, Saddi Washington as Coaching Staff Hires". MaizeNBrew.com. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- "Couch: Lansing's Saddi Washington ready for next coaching step, at U-M". LansingStateJournal.com. USA Today. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- Steve Lorenz. "Wolverine assistant the top ranked recruiter in 2021 class". The Michigan Insider. Retrieved 26 December 2020.