By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Jalen Washington unleashed plenty of emotions after he took a transition pass from Elliot Cadeau and hammered home a powerful dunk in the second half Friday against American.
Seeing Washington wave his arms and yell surprised Coach Hubert Davis, but he’s convinced that much more than his highlight-reel slam was behind that reaction.
“That was an emotion that came from, yes, he made the basket. But also, look what I’ve gone through,” said Davis, comparing it to the tears that flow on a senior day. “It’s also the perseverance through difficult and tough times that have allowed you to get there, and that reaction that he had in the game against American … I thought it was him being out there on the floor and all that he has persevered and gone through.”
The rough times started when he missed his senior high school season because of a knee injury. Then, he didn’t get cleared to play until halfway through his freshman season at Carolina. Washington has already played nearly half as many minutes in starting all three games this season as he played that freshman season in 2022–23.
“It’s definitely been a journey,” said Washington ahead of No. 10 UNC’s Friday night game at Hawai’i (ESPN2; 12:30 a.m. ET Saturday). “I feel like that’s pretty much anybody’s life, just a lot of ups and downs, but it’s all for the better.”
After playing behind and practicing against Armando Bacot for two seasons and working into the best shape of his career, the 6–10, 235–pound junior from Gary, Ind., is thankful to be a starter playing lots of minutes for Carolina.
“It’s a huge blessing to just be able to be here, to be able to be a part of this journey and look back at how far I came and how much more I got to keep going,” said Washington, who is averaging 11 points and scored a career-high 18 points in 18 minutes against American.
“I’ve had people in my corner to help me. No way I could’ve got through this by myself. It took a lot of prayer,” Washington said. “My parents are people of faith just like me. Just even them being able to be here, just praying for me and just talking to me every day — even my high school coaches back home, trainers, my siblings, everybody back home, my closest friends, they have just been really instrumental in helping me throughout the process.”
In a college basketball climate, where many players don’t stick with a program when their expected playing time doesn’t come, Washington persevered and kept grinding to improve.
“I think J-Wash has always been about the process and understood that it’s going to take time, and that’s something especially [true] now in college that it’s harder for guys to be able to do,” Davis said. “He really took advantage of that time that he was out; he took advantage of practicing against Armando every day and being able to watch him and how he prepared, how he played, how he practiced. And he’s getting that opportunity now.”
The teammate who has helped him the most along the way because of the bond they’ve developed is guard Seth Trimble, who arrived in Chapel Hill the same year. Up until last season, his UNC career didn’t go smoothly either, and he briefly entered the transfer portal.
“I’ve been closer to him than anybody else in the program,” Washington said. “We lived together for a couple of years. That’s my guy. So, we’ve just been through a lot together and always talk about stuff like that. So, it’s great to be in this position with him and us, being able to flourish this year.”
Like Washington, Trimble is a regular starter for the first time.
“We always encourage each other,” Washington. “We’re always going to be in each other’s corner. So, it’s just great to be able to play here with him and be able to experience this year with him.”
Washington came into the season facing doubts from people outside the program that he could be the sort of player the Tar Heels needed after losing Bacot and Harrison Ingram in the offseason.
After Carolina tried to get a couple of high-level center transfers out of the portal, it was up to Washington to fill the role.
Washington has the perimeter shooting skills that Bacot lacked during his college career and has a 7–4 wingspan, even though he’s not the same sort of dominant big man. With every game and experience, he feels more comfortable and is expanding his game.
Davis said that the process is still ongoing.
“I also push him too because as well as he’s playing, he has more in the tank, and I want him to reach his full potential here,” Davis said. “And he’s an unbelievable kid to be around him every day and to be able to coach him, but to have a relationship with him.”
Washington agrees that he hasn’t come close to approaching his ceiling.
“I’m not sure really like how to describe what else I got left,” Washington said. “But I feel like I haven’t played my best basketball yet. And once I get into that rhythm and y’all see me like really playing my best ball, and that’s when we’ll start doing a whole lot better as well.”
It sure helps having a gifted passer consistently deliver the ball where he needs it, and Cadeau has fed Washington the ball off pick-and-rolls effectively to give him excellent scoring chances.
“Elliot a really quick guy,” Washington said. “So, we want to just make sure that we’re able to get him going downhill.”
Cadeau often talks to Washington during practices and games about what he sees from the defense, the player defending Washington and how to handle the ball screen.
“He’ll never put you in a bad position or anything,” Washington said. “He’s letting you know. He’s like, ‘Hey, this is what they’re doing. This what I see, so this is how you should play this ball screen, whether you got slip or something or, get out quickly, hit the guy, flip the ball screen, something like that.’ He’s really vocal when it comes to how we play ball screens.”
The Washington that you see for these four games in Hawaii might not be close to the player you’ll see during the heart of the ACC season. It will be fun to watch.
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score |
Opponent/event (current ranks) |
TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at No. 1 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | 12:30 a.m ET | at Hawai’i | ESPN2 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | 11:30 p.m. ET | Dayton | ESPN2 |
| 26 | Tuesday | 8:30 or 11 ET | No. 4 Auburn or Iowa State |
ESPN or ESPNU |
| 27 | Wednesday | 2:30 ET, 5 p.m., 9:30 or midnight |
Memphis, No. 2 UConn, Colorado or Michigan State |
ESPN or ESPN2 |
| December |
ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge |
|||
| 4 | Wednesday | 7:15 | vs. No. 8 Alabama | ESPN |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. LaSalle | The CW |
|
Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte |
||||
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | Florida | ESPN |
|
CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden |
||||
| 21 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | UCLA | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | TBA | at Louisville | ACCN |
| 4 | Saturday | Noon | at Notre Dame | CBS |
| 7 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 11 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at N.C. State | ACCN |
| 15 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Cal | ACCN |
| 18 | Saturday | 2:15 | vs. Stanford | The CW |
| 21 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Wake Forest | ESPN |
| 25 | Saturday | 2:15 p.m. | vs. Boston College | The W |
| 28 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 12 Duke | ESPN |
| 8 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | Noon | vs. Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN, ESPN2 orESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 12 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 |
Tues.–Sat. |
ACC tournament Spectum Center, Charlotte |
Photos via @UNC_Basketball