Editor’s note: In late October, freshman forward Oshae Brissett told The Daily Orange: “Our freshmen, people don’t know how good we are.” Granted, no one knows just how good the four freshmen are yet, but in a four-part series this week, The D.O. tells you who they are.

Howard Washington’s family was in Orangeville, Ontario, ready to watch him play. It was March 11, which was also the birthday of Howard Washington Sr., Washington’s father.

The Washingtons are from Buffalo, just a few hours west of Syracuse. Father and son both grew up Syracuse basketball fans.

After the game, one of Washington’s coaches, Tony McIntyre, called the family into his office. There, they got a phone call from SU assistant coach Adrian Autry. Tears streamed down Washington’s face as Autry said Syracuse was offering him a scholarship.

Washington’s journey wasn’t the most straightforward one. As a 16-year-old, he went to a basketball academy in Florida, about 1,000 miles from home. He committed to Butler, then decommitted. He attended a prep school in a different country. He waited until this past March to get offered a scholarship from SU. He felt overlooked by everyone.

Now, Washington is exactly where he wants to be.

“It’s always been a dream for me to come play at Syracuse,” Washington said.

Like most other kids in his area, Washington started playing football and basketball as a kid. By the time he was 7, though, his parents realized that he excelled far more on the hardwood. By the time he was 12, he was already vastly ahead of most of the local competition.

Washington Sr. has lived his entire life in Buffalo, where, he said, he saw a lot of great young players struggle in college because local competition was too weak to build them into good players at the next level. He didn’t want the same thing to happen to his son.

The family looked at different options. One it considered was Athlete Institute, a prep school in Canada. But it was too new at the time, Washington Sr. said, and he wanted to send his son to a school with a proven track record.

So, before the 2014-15 season, after two years at Canisius (New York) High School, Washington enrolled at Montverde (Florida) Academy, a powerhouse that’s produced consistent Division I and NBA talent.

The year before Washington got there, the school had D’Angelo Russell, current Brooklyn Nets guard and the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He played against both Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball, the top two picks in the 2017 draft. In his first year there, Washington shared the starting lineup with Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers forward and the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft. Montverde won the national championship that season.

“At the time, Montverde was the best in the country,” Washington Sr. said. “He gained a lot of experience and toughness playing against other Division I players in practice … you can’t really replicate that experience.”

Offers started coming in for Washington, and in November of his senior year he committed to play at Butler. That April though, he decommitted. He felt he wasn’t physically ready to play at that level, so he decided to take a prep year.

This time, the family once again looked into Athlete Institute. One of the coaches there, McIntyre, had met Washington when he was in seventh grade and had a good relationship with the family. McIntyre is also the father of former Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis, with whom Washington is good friends. The two still work out together when Ennis returns home from the NBA season.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim said at the team’s media day that Washington’s style of play reminds him of Ennis, except that Washington is a better shooter. Assistant coach Gerry McNamara expressed a similar sentiment, saying that it was specifically their pace of play. McIntyre also sees the resemblance.

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When Washington came to Athlete Institute, his main goal was gaining weight and becoming stronger. He had more access to the gym than he did at Montverde and went for early morning workouts with McIntyre.

“When you look at him when he came in, he was still pretty skinny,” McIntyre said. “His body is bigger. It’s (readier) for college. His shot is better, his leadership skills are better. His confidence is way up and I think those were all things that all changed when he came to us.”

At this time last year, Washington weighed 163 pounds, he said. Now, he’s almost up to 180. Still, even though he’s physically readier, there are still things he needs to work on. McNamara said that because Washington has good court vision and awareness, he sometimes predetermines where he wants to pass the ball. That could become an issue if Washington’s teammates aren’t where he expected them to be, or if the defense reads his eyes and picks the pass off.

Washington’s ready to embrace the challenge. He’s pushed, he said, by proving naysayers wrong. He’s heard the whispers — that he’s too small, that he’s not athletic enough and that he won’t make it to a higher level. It’s what led him to be bounce around so much during his high school years.

“Saying I’m going to school in a different country, or city, was crazy,” Washington said. “I feel like it sped up my growing up process … you’re basically on your own out there.”

Through it all, Washington never lost sight of his end goal. Washington Sr. estimates that at one point there were about 24 schools that expressed interest in his son. But Washington wanted to hold out for Syracuse.

He’s here now. And given the state of the Orange roster — he’s one of four scholarship guards who’ll be eligible play to play this year — he has the opportunity to contribute right away.

“At the end of the day,” Washington Sr. said, “he gets to play at the school that he’s been dreaming of since he was 8 years old.”

Published on November 5, 2017 at 8:49 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer