Making the Most Out of Opportunity
Looking at the UMBC team statistics, one thing might jump out at you about their leading scorer, Kareem Washington: he doesn’t start for them. Take a look at last year’s statistics, when Washington also led them in scoring, and you see that the 6’3″ senior guard started all but one game. It naturally raises the question: why does he come off the bench?
One might think he’s better suited to it, and his play this season may back that up, but Washington says he would rather start. Nonetheless, he makes the most out of the situation.
“The coaches say it gives me a chance to watch what’s going on out there, and then I come in and pick my spots,” Washington said. “In a way it kind of helps, even though I don’t like it.”
Head coach Tom Sullivan likes what Washington can do as a scorer.
“He’s a very good scorer, and he can stop an assignment if we know specifically what that assignment will be like,” Sullivan says of the fifth-year senior guard.
The Retrievers joined America East this past year, after spending five seasons in the Northeast Conference. Washington knew it represented a step up in the competition level, and he hasn’t been surprised by what he’s found.
“I noticed that the guard play in this league is just like the Northeast, but the big men are a lot better,” he said. “In this league, the big men have better hands, they’re taller, they’re good around the basket.”
Washington has continued to be the team’s top scorer, picking it up in America East play where he has scored 13.5 points per game. On January 24, Washington became the 13th Retriever to reach 1,000 career points with a driving layup that just beat the halftime buzzer at Maine. He enters the America East Tournament with 1,139 career points, good for 11th on the school’s all-time scoring list.
He arrives with a supporting cast of mostly underclassmen, starting with junior guard Rob Gogerty, who has been one of the most productive floor leaders in the conference. Freshman point guard Chris Pugh has shown plenty of promise, and the Retrievers have some decent bodies in the frontcourt from senior Eugene Young and junior Andrew Feeley to the sophomore trio of Cory McJimson, Seth Davis and combo forward John Zito.
With the team moving up from the Northeast Conference, this season was seen as an adjustment year, and the talent base is there to start the growth process after this season. Right now, Washington is trying to close out his career on a good note with this team.
The native of White Plains, New York considered some other Northeast Conference schools that recruited him, but selected UMBC out of high school because he felt he needed to get away from home. He likes the school’s location, and it’s safe to say that he made a good decision in listening to him reflect on the last five years.
“It’s been a great experience,” he says of the college years. “I think it’s helped me develop and grow as a man. I still have a lot of growing to do, but it’s helped me mature a whole lot.”
The Information Systems major has done well in school, and is trying to get some internships set up for after he graduates. He plans to work in systems analysis or computer networking, and over the years he saw how important it is for him to take full advantage of the scholarship he has.
“Everybody who’s out there trying to get an education, I see their struggles, especially for the students who have to pay for school – I see how determined they are,” he says.
On the first weekend of March, we will see how determined Washington is on the court as he tries to lead the Retrievers in their first America East Tournament.
