Keep an Eye on the Nevada Wolf Pack’s New Center, Warren Washington
After he arrived from Oregon, the 7-feet sophomore had to out the 2019-20 season under NCAA transfer rules. Warren Washington has made good use of his redshirting time, though. There is no doubt that sports fans in Nevada will have someone to put their odds on this season. In December 2020, Washington averaged 5.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game during the Wolf Pack’s first four games. Moreover, he made 58.3 percent of his shots. Then he went 6-for-7 from the field, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds against Air Force on December 18th. His career-high was marked by 12 rebounds and eight points in the series finale against Air Force on December 20th.
Washington had matching lines of 10 points and six rebounds in each game against New Mexico, going a combined 7-for-10 from the field on December 31st and January 2nd. After that, he scored 13 points with seven rebounds against Fresno State on January 15th and grabbed a career-high 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, plus nine rebounds Wyoming on January 22nd. The season had started with the disappointment of an 85-60 loss against San Francisco on December 2nd. “I feel like I’ve been a little bit too unselfish,” Washington declared then. “I feel like I should take more shots.”
The Wolf Pack head coach, Steve Alford, feels that his young team will need some time to gain confidence on the court. The other transfer of the team, Desmond Cambridge from Brown, has been the best companion and inspirator to Warren Washington in their redshirt year. Coach Alford told them to be patient because after 600 days without competition, they need to get used to the game again. “I don’t care how much you practice or how much you get in a weight room. It’s different than going up and down on the basketball court.”
Washington decided to enroll on the transfer portal in 2019 while he was still in Oregon State. He got only sparse playing time there as a freshman in 2018-19 in 27 games, averaging 1.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 7.8 minutes per game. The curious aspect is that he chose Oregon unexpectedly after Nevada had already contacted him by then-coach Eric Musselman. “It was my first offer. I looked it up right after Coach Muss offered. I did my research, and I fell in love with it.” And yet, after an official visit to Oregon State, Warren committed to the Pac-12 Beavers and canceled his trip to Reno. He was to commit to them in May 2019, thanks to the new coach Steve Alford and other coaching team members, like Craig Neal and Bill Duany: Washington says he looked up their CVs and was impressed.
On his side, Alford is very optimistic about their acquisition, too: “I think he has the potential to be one of the better bigs in this league. He’s really just at the tip of what he’s going to be. That’s a 7-foot guy that can really run the floor, and I think he’s going to end up developing into a great shot-blocker, a great offensive rebounder.”
