Saddi Washington - Men's Basketball Coach - University of Michigan Athletics

Saddi Washington

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
saddiw@umich.edu
Phone:
(734) 763-5504

With nearly two decades of coaching experience, Saddi Washington completed his eighth season as an assistant coach with the University of Michigan basketball program.

With the Wolverines, Washington has been responsible for working with U-M's wings and continues to coordinate defensive strategies. Overall with Washington, the Maize and Blue has 176 victories including a program record 33 wins during the 2017-18 season (33-8), which closed with a national runner-up finish. The following season (2018-19), U-M recorded a second 30-win season, going 30-7.

Throughout his time in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines have won 10-plus Big Ten games in seven of the eight season with Washington on the bench as he carried an 84-66 record in conference play. U-M claimed the 2021 Big Ten regular season title, back-to-back Big Ten Tournaments (2017, '18), advanced to five NCAA straight Sweet 16s, as well as a trip to the 2018 Final Four and national title game against Villanova.

In his first season with the Maize and Blue, and after a well-documented plane crash, U-M won four games in four days to claim the 2017 Big Ten Tournament title. The following year, the Wolverines repeated their efforts with four straight wins to win back-to-back conference tournament titles. In 2019, U-M made it three straight trips to the championship game, setting the tournament record with 10 straight wins, before falling in the championship game.

Using the successes in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines made five trips to the NCAA Tournament reaching the Sweet 16 in each of those seasons as well as the national title game in 2018. After defeating Cinderella Loyola-Chicago in the 2018 national semifinal, the Wolverines fell to Villanova in the 2018 national title game.

On the floor, Washington was instrumental in the development of All-Big Ten Wolverines Ignas Brazdeikis, Moussa Diabate', Caleb Houstan, Isaiah Livers, Jordan Poole, Franz and Moritz Wagner and D.J. Wilson. All eight heard their names called at the NBA Draft, including lottery pick Franz Wagner (No. 8, Orlando) in 2021.

Before heading to Ann Arbor, Washington spent a decade with Oakland University (2006-16) in Rochester. For the first seven seasons, he served as an assistant before a 2013 promotion elevated him to associate head coach. Working under Oakland's legendary coach Greg Kampe, the Grizzlies compiled 198 wins, with five 20-plus win seasons during Washington's tenure.

The Grizzlies made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament after winning two straight Summit League regular season and conference tournament titles (2010, '11). During the course of those two seasons, Oakland was 34-2 in conference play as the Grizzlies recorded back-to-back 17-1 win league records.

Making the second and third program appearances in the Big Dance, Oakland fell in the first round to Pittsburgh (89-66; 2010) and Texas (85-81; 2011). In addition to the NCAA postseason, Oakland made four trips to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT), reaching the semifinal in 2012 as well as the inaugural Vegas 16 Tournament finishing as the 2016 runner-up.

Washington created a reputation for developing some of the top mid-major players in the country while at Oakland. Five players led the country in a statistical category, beginning with Johnathon Jones, who dished out an NCAA best 8.1 assists per game in 2009. Jones would go on to set the all-time league record with 819, and twice, earn Mid-Major All-American and All-Summit League first team accolades.

A two-time All-Summit League selection and a Mid-Major All-American, Reggie Hamilton scored an NCAA best 26.2 points per game in 2012, becoming the first Summit League player to lead the country in scoring. The following season (2013), Travis Bader made a Summit League record 139 three-pointers to lead the nation. That same season, Duke Mondy led the NCAA with 3.03 steals per game, breaking the school record with 100 total. Bader and Mondy were the first teammate tandem to lead the NCAA in a statistical category inside the Summit League. Bader, a two-time Mid-Major All-American, went on to close his career with a then-NCAA record 504 three-pointers made. He still ranks among the top-five all-time in Division I history.

Finally in 2016, Kay Felder led the nation with 9.3 assists per game, while ranking fourth nationally in scoring (24.4 ppg). An AP All-America third team member, Felder broke the Horizon League's all-time assist record (788) and finished his three-year career ninth on Oakland's all-time scoring list (1,765).

Following a seven-year professional career overseas and in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), Washington started his coaching career serving as a volunteer assistant coach at MHSAA powerhouse Romulus High School (2005) under head coach Nate Oats, who is currently the head coach at Alabama.

As a professional, Washington was the No. 1-overall draft pick in the 1998 CBA Draft by the Grand Rapids Hoops, while also having professional stints in Italy, France, Greece and Israel. In 2001, he was a member of the Detroit Dogs of the American Basketball Association (ABA) that went on to win the league's inaugural championship.

A native of Lansing, Mich., Washington prepped at Lansing Sexton High School, where he was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and track, receiving all-state recognition in both sports. Following his prep career, he went on to become a star at Western Michigan University. He was named to the 1994 Mid-American (MAC) All-Freshman Team after averaging 14.0 points per game. After missing his sophomore season due to a torn ACL, Washington returned for three more seasons and went on to earn two All-MAC honors - second team (1997) and first team (1998).

During his senior campaign, he helped the Broncos to a 21-8 record with a team-best 626 points (21.6 ppg) -- the fifth best output all-time -- while adding 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists in a program-record 35.4 minutes per game. After leading Western Michigan to the West Division title (14-4), the Broncos received the 11th-seed at the 1998 NCAA Tournament. With Washington's 24-point, seven-rebound performance added with backcourt-mate Rashod Johnson's 32 points (eight three-pointers), WMU upset No. 6-seed Clemson (75-72) in the first round -- the Broncos’ first DI NCAA Tournament win. Despite his 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, the Broncos fell in the second round to No. 3-seed Stanford (83-65).

A two-time MAC All-Academic team (1997, '98) selection, Washington played in 102 games, finishing with 1,688 career points (16.5 ppg), 413 rebounds (4.0 rpg) and 258 assists (2.5 apg). He made 144 three-pointers and shot 78.0 percent on free throws (394-for-505). Washington still ranks among Western Michigan's all-time top 10 in seven categories -- points (1,688; 6th), steals (173; 5th), minutes per game (32.7; 2nd), field goals made (575; 5th), field goal attempts (1,323; 5th), free throws made (394; 7th) and free throw attempts (505; 9th).

Washington graduated from WMU in 1998, double majoring in business management and marketing. In 2010, he was inducted into the WMU Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Channon, have two children -- daughter, Sidney, and son, Caleb. After winning state titles on vault, bars, floor and the all-around in 2019, Sidney was a member of the Pittsburgh women's gymnastics team before transferring to Ohio State following a coaching change within the Panthers program.

Washington's father, Stan, was a three-time All-Big Ten selection at Michigan State (1964-66). A 6-9 forward, the elder Washington has been ranked at the 30th best player to play for the Spartans as he averaged 18.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during his career. Additionally, he was a free-throw marksman, making 81.5 percent (278 of 341) of his shots.

The Saddi Washington File

Born: July 30, 1975
Hometown: Lansing, Michigan
High School: Lansing Sexton High School, 1994
College: Western Michigan, 1998 | Degree: (double major) Business Management & Marketing
Wife: Channon
Children (2): daughter, Sidney, and son, Caleb

Career Resume

Years	School	Position
2005-06	Romulus High School	Volunteer Assistant Coach
2006-13	Oakland University	Assistant Coach
2013-16	Oakland University	Associate Head Coach
2016-present	University of Michigan	Assistant Coach

Coaching Breakdown

Year	School	Record	Conf.	Finish	Tournament	Postseason
2005-06	Romulus H.S.	18-8	8-4	4th	--	--
2006-07	Oakland (AC)	19-14	10-4	2nd	Mid-Con: Runner-up	--
2007-08	Oakland (AC)	17-14	11-7	t-3rd	Summit: Semifinal	--
2008-09	Oakland (AC)	23-13	13-5	3rd	Summit: Runner-up	CIT: Quarterfinal
2009-10	Oakland (AC)	26-9	17-1	1st	Summit: Champions	NCAA: First Round
2010-11	Oakland (AC)	25-10	17-1	1st	Summit: Champions	NCAA: First Round
2011-12	Oakland (AC)	20-16	11-7	3rd	Summit: Quarterfinal	CIT: Semifinal
2012-13	Oakland (AC)	16-17	10-6	4th	Summit: Quarterfinal	CIT: First Round
2013-14	Oakland (AHC)	13-20	7-9	t-5th	Horizon: Second Round	--
2014-15	Oakland (AHC)	16-17	11-5	t-3rd	Horizon: Second Round	CIT: First Round
2015-16	Oakland (AHC)	23-12	13-5	t-2nd	Horizon: Semifinal	Vegas 16: Runner-up
2016-17	Michigan (AC)	26-12	10-8	t-5th	BTT: Champions	NCAA: Sweet 16
2017-18	Michigan (AC)	33-8	13-5	t-4th	BTT: Champions	NCAA: Runner-up
2018-19	Michigan (AC)	30-7	15-5	3rd	BTT: Runner-up	NCAA: Sweet 16
2019-20	Michigan (AC)	19-12	10-10	9th	canceled (covid-19)	canceled (covid-19)
2020-21	Michigan (AC)	23-5	14-3	1st	BTT: Semifinal	NCAA: Elite Eight
2021-22	Michigan (AC)	19-15	11-9	8th	BTT: Second Round	NCAA: Sweet 16
2022-23	Michigan (AC)	18-16	11-9	t-5th	BTT: Second Round	NIT: Second Round
2023-24	Michigan (AC)	8-24	3-17	14th	BTT: First Round	--

Career Record

Years	School	Overall	Conference	Seasons
2005-06	Romulus H.S.	18-8	8-4	1
2006-16	Oakland	198-142	120-50	10
2016-present	Michigan	176-99	87-66	8
	Career	392-249	215-120	19
	Collegiate Total	374-241	207-116	18
	High School Total	18-8	8-4	1