Through Saddi Washington, Michigan bridges past to future
Michigan unable to overcome injury to Brooks
Saddi
Washington
rolled
out of bed and into basketball
purgatory.
On the morning of May 13,
2019, John Beilein, Michigan’s
all-time
winningest
coach,
accepted
the
head-coaching
position
with
the
NBA’s
Cleveland Cavaliers. In his wake,
a stunned program pondered its
suddenly precarious future.
Washington,
an
assistant
under Beilein, had no intention of
leaving Ann Arbor anytime soon.
Across three years on Beilein’s
staff, he emerged as an integral
part
of
Michigan’s
success,
helping spur the Wolverines
into college basketball’s upper-
echelon with two consecutive
30-win seasons. Meanwhile, his
daughter, Sidney, had settled
into high school while his son,
Caleb, transitioned into middle
school.
“I always say, the Michigan
experience has been very kind to
the Washingtons,” Washington
told The Daily.
For
days,
Washington
wondered
whether
that
experience was over. Two weeks
later, loitering toward the back
of Juwan Howard’s introductory
press conference, Washington
found himself as Michigan’s
longest-tenured assistant coach.
Suddenly, he was the senior-
most link to Beilein’s program.
As the staff’s holdover, his
priorities shifted.
He needed to work alongside
the
new
staff
to
maintain
Michigan’s success, an effort
rooted in conserving the culture.
A pair of pictures drape the
back wall to Washington’s office,
tethers to the past.
The first, a photo of the 2016-17
Wolverines celebrating their Big
Ten Tournament championship.
The other, a team picture taken
on the court in San Antonio
before the 2018 Final Four.
Since those moments, players
and coaches have come and gone
within the program. And yet,
success has endured.
It’s early February, and when
Washington leans back in his desk
chair, both photos come into view,
blown-up and framed. He didn’t
know that, a month later, he would
be standing underneath a drizzle
of maize confetti in the belly of a
hollow Crisler Center, exchanging
hugs and fist-bumps at the outer-
edge of a mosh pit. Michigan, in
domineering fashion, secured the
outright Big Ten regular-season
championship.
Another photo to add to the
display.
The last 11 seasons comprise
arguably the greatest period of
sustained success in Michigan
men’s basketball history. Eight
(soon to be nine, would have
been 10) NCAA Tournament
appearances.
Five
Big
Ten
championships. Two Final Fours
and perhaps more forthcoming.
The transition from Beilein
to Howard elicited no apparent
drop-off, with the two tenures
merging into one glorified era.
Scanning those photos — both
the pair already framed and the
one soon to be there — reveals
Washington to be the constant.
***
After
graduating
from
Oakland in 2010, Johnathon
Jones was alone, bound for
Slovakia on a pro-contract having
spent the first 23 years of his life
in Michigan. A few days before
he left, he received a phone call
from his former assistant coach,
Saddi Washington, with some
advice.
A decade earlier, Washington
wore Jones’s shoes. He was
en route to France, having left
behind his wife and fleeting NBA
dreams to prolong his playing
career overseas.
Challenges awaited — new
teammates, a new style of play,
a new culture — with no simple
remedies.
Washington
had
no one to guide him through
the transition; bootlegged TV
programs represented the only
sort of contact with home.
And, early on in his tenure as
an assistant coach at Oakland,
Washington sought to provide
his players the mentorship he
sorely lacked during that time.
“I just tried to be there every
step of the way, even though
I
wasn’t
physically
there,”
Washington said. “It goes back
to that day you’re sitting in a
kid’s living room and they’re
on campus and you start the
recruiting pitch and you’re
talking about family, from my
perspective that shouldn’t end
the moment they leave campus.”
Drawing
upon
his
own
international
experience
—
stints in France, Italy, Israel
and
Greece
—
Washington
curated a running Microsoft
Word
file
dubbed
the
“European Survival Kit.” It
encompassed everything from
packing essentials to advice on
acclimating to foreign customs,
to stipulations to watch for in
contracts.
“Kinda like when a freshman
goes to college, you have certain
things that help you get by,”
Jones, who played for Oakland
from 2007-2011, said. “First time
going overseas, he sat me down,
made a checklist, told me what I
could expect.”
As
Washington’s
players
continued
to
embark
on
international careers, he would
“make his rounds,” checking in
on dozens of players at a time.
“He’d
reach
out,
‘Young
fella, man, you got everything
you need?’ ” Reggie Hamilton,
who played in seven different
countries
after
his
Oakland
career, said. “He really just
wanted you to be successful from
the times he had.”
That’s
what
gravitated
Washington to coaching in the
first place. As his playing career
fizzled, coaching emerged as a
way to give back through future
generations. “To put them in a
position … to be successful not
just in basketball, but in life,”
Washington says.
He served one year as a
volunteer
assistant
under
current-Alabama coach Nate Oats
at Romulus High School before
moving on to Oakland University
in 2006 as an assistant coach.
There, he quickly embraced his
different hats — not just that of
an assistant coach.
“You ask Saddi, ‘Who are you?’
and he’s not gonna tell you he’s a
basketball coach,” Oats said.
He extended open invitations
to his house, hosting players to
watch film, eat dinner or simply
relax and watch the nightly slate
of NBA action. In an academic
setting, he pushed his players to
take more strenuous classes and
ensured they completed their
assignments on time.
“That’s not his job, man,” Jalen
Hayes, who played at Oakland
from 2013-2018, said. “His job
is to coach us on the court. Just
going the extra mile, stuff that
he didn’t have to do, but he did
anyway because he wanted to
see us be successful.”
That mindset is reflected in
everything Washington does.
When
NBA
speculation
inundated Kay Felder during
his junior season, Washington
initiated a heart-to-heart at the
baggage carousel before a flight
home.
“He didn’t try to steer me and
say, ‘Oh, you should stay another
year’ or ‘you should go,’ ” Felder
said. “It was basically, ‘I’m on
your side.’ ”
And when Drew Valentine,
an uncommitted high school
prospect,
tore
his
ACL
in
September of his senior year,
Washington made sure to be at
the hospital. When Valentine
opened his eyes after surgery, he
saw Washington first.
“His biggest attribute is he’s
real,” Carlton Valentine, Drew’s
father and a close friend of
Washington’s, said. “You could
sense his genuine care and
concern. There’s not a fake bone
in his body.”
There’s no perfect science
to
a
coaching
change.
On
multiple levels, it’s a balancing
act, between players and staff
members, pre-existing program
values and the new regime’s
vision. Each one is different from
the next.
Most
new
coaches
at
high-major
schools
inherit
floundering programs in need
of a complete makeover. At
Michigan, that was far from the
case. Beilein ingrained a culture
that bred sustained success;
Howard faced the challenge of
building off it.
“Going off, ‘Well, it’s not
exactly broke here at Michigan,
let’s keep a staff member on,’ and
(Juwan) did that,” Beilein said.
“We also understand that Juwan
has to put his own stamp on it.
The whole idea of creating his
own identity but not letting go of
the success that we’ve had.”
Retaining
Washington
offered a tangible way to do
that. On Howard’s staff, Phil
Martelli
offered
24
years
of
collegiate
head-coaching
experience and Howard Eisley
brought
a
heralded
NBA
pedigree.
Yet
Washington,
hired by Beilein in May of 2016,
possessed a familiarity with
the players and program that
others lacked.
“You gotta have somebody
that knows these guys,” Oats,
who was present for coaching
changes at both Buffalo and
Alabama, said. “It’s hard to just
come in, everybody on staff
building a new relationship
from scratch. You have to do it
sometimes, but it’s not easy. It’s
a lot easier and better to do it
when you keep somebody.”
Beilein recommended each of
his staff members to Howard.
Washington and Howard had
crossed
paths
before,
both
on the recruiting trail with
Howard’s son, Jace, and during
times when Howard would visit
the program in past summers.
They hit it off immediately.
“Coach Juwan, he’s a people-
person,
a
relationship
guy
much like myself,” Washington
said. “So you got two guys that
really thrive off the energy in a
relationship.”
Once on board, Washington’s
innate
ability
to
develop
relationships rendered him a
perfect fit to connect one era
to the next. He first thought
to
address
the
needs
and
apprehensions of his players.
He sought to hasten Howard’s
learning curve, parceling out
information
and
compiling
cheatsheets on personalities,
strengths and weaknesses. As
Howard devised a playbook,
Washington
served
as
the
liaison between systems old
and new.
“He’s been a star in his role
as far as doing a great job in
assisting the staff and myself,”
Howard said. “He could have
easily gone to any school, I’m
sure, and joined someone else’s
staff as an assistant … because
of his knowledge for the game
and understanding of how to
relate to players. I’m just happy
that Saddi’s on our side.”
Washington added: “I really
just tried to serve as the bridge.”
Last March, lost in the
shuffle
of
the
pandemic,
Western
Michigan
relieved
its longstanding coach, Steve
Hawkins. The opening seemed
tailor-made for Washington: a
two-time All-MAC player, he
starred as a Bronco from 1994-
1998.
Except, he didn’t want the
job. He consulted with his
family and, collectively, they
agreed the timing wasn’t right.
“A quality of life decision,” he
deems it.
The
thought
of
a
head
coaching position, though, has
crossed
Washington’s
mind
before.
“I would love to one day have
the opportunity to be a head
coach and run a program and
do a lot of things that I’m doing
now as an assistant in terms
of influencing and making an
impact on young men’s lives,”
Washington said, a sly grin
creeping across his face. “But
just doing it from the first seat.”
It’s a role that anyone who
has interacted with Washington
knows he’s prepared for.
“That dude is a one-of-a-
kind man,” Hamilton said. “I
can’t wait until he leads his
own team. I’m really excited to
see a Saddi Washington-driven
culture.”
In reality, though, Hamilton
doesn’t have to wait to see a
Washington-inspired culture.
All he has to do is look at
Michigan.
The floater went in, but the result
of the play couldn’t have been worse
for the Michigan men’s basketball
team.
Just
four-and-a-half
minutes
into the Wolverines’ 70-64 loss to
Michigan State on Sunday, after
scoring his second basket of the
game, senior guard Eli Brooks
injured his left ankle after landing
awkwardly on the foot of Spartan
forward Marcus Bingham Jr.
Assisted by Michigan coach
Juwan Howard and athletic trainer
Alex Wong, Brooks hobbled to the
bench and eventually into the locker
room, emerging in a walking boot at
the start of the second half.
“I don’t have much information
for you about Eli’s injury,” Howard
said afterward. “(We’ll) get home,
gonna take a look and see after
we’ve had our doctors take a look
at it.”
Added senior wing Isaiah Livers:
“You know he’s a warrior. … I didn’t
get to see the replay but had to be
bad if Eli can’t get back out there.”
As was the case in its first loss
of the season against Minnesota on
Jan. 16 — which Brooks missed due
to injury — the Wolverines looked a
shell of their typical selves without
him.
Michigan’s
offense
was
disjointed, its defense erratic and its
depth stretched.
In their loss to the Golden
Gophers, Michigan shot just 39%
from the field. This time, it was
only slightly higher at 41.7%. While
graduate point guard Mike Smith
is the team’s primary ball-handler,
Brooks initiates the offense in his
relief. Brooks entered the game
averaging only 2.8 assists, but
his steady presence has proven
invaluable for the Wolverines this
season.
Brooks, who shoots over 36%
from deep, also usually gives
Michigan another scoring threat on
the perimeter.
“First we could do better by
making better decisions,” Howard
said.
“Also
there
was
some
questionable shot selection. I loved
(their) aggressiveness, but we have
to be smart-aggressive. And then
there were times too where we
were missing guys when they were
open. We can’t have those moments
either.”
Senior guard Chaundee Brown
stepped in for Brooks. Typically
the first player off the bench for
the Wolverines, Brown filled in
well from a scoring perspective,
going 5-for-10 from the field
with 13 points. Unfortunately for
Michigan, though, its depth behind
Brown was stretched extremely
thin. Freshman Zeb Jackson had
played just five total minutes in the
last three games but played eight
against the Spartans.
“No matter what, you can
never prepare when you lose one
of your main guys,” Howard said.
“Chaundee did a good job of stepping
in, Zeb had some good minutes out
there as well, but we just pray that
(Eli) gets back healthy.”
The void left by Brooks was
especially
pronounced
on
the
defensive side of the ball. Michigan
State’s guards Rocket Watts and
Aaron Henry Jr. combined for 39
points. Brooks, the Wolverines’
best perimeter defender, would’ve
matched up with one of them.
Michigan showed signs of life
late in the game, cutting the deficit
to two with a minute left. But, the
Wolverines’ offensive strides were
ultimately canceled out by their
inability to get stops down the
stretch — exactly when you’d want a
guy like Eli Brooks on the floor.
“We gotta do a better job of
defending.
We
always
pride
ourselves on defense being a staple
of getting stops, but unfortunately
today, we didn’t do a good job of
getting stops when we needed it. I
loved (their) effort but we gotta do a
better job of being more locked into
the details.”
While the severity of Brooks’s
injury is unknown, the timing
couldn’t have been worse. Michigan
plays its first game in the Big Ten
Tournament this Friday, before
the NCAA Tournament starts
the following week. How quickly
Brooks can return to action may end
up being the difference between a
second-round exit and a run to the
Final Four.
“When a guy that important
goes down, you gotta adjust,”
Livers said. “It’s a next man-up
mentality, not making no excuses.
We’re gonna watch film, see
where we can improve at.”
As Michigan’s learned without
Brooks, believing in a “next man-
up mentality” and actually living
up to it are two very different
things.
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Editor
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior guard Eli Brooks went down with an ankle injury against Michigan State in the last game of the Wolverines’
regular season.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Michigan assistant coach Saddi Washington has been the one constant through two coaching regimes.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Wednesday, March 10, 2021 — 15