CHAPEL HILL – Jalen Washington’s game is coming. It might not be at a rate some projected, even after his series of knee injuries, but make no mistake, he’s getting better by the day.
His numbers bear that out, so do the eyes. But most important, it’s clear North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis sees it as well. That’s why Davis has been working the 6-foot-10 Washington with 6-foot-10 veteran Armando Bacot in practice.
In now-No. 8 UNC’s 105-60 romp over Charleston Southern on Friday night at the Smith Center, Washington and Bacot played together for a 4:15 stretch. It was their first time together on the floor during a game this season, and it was significant.
“In practice lately, we've been playing him and Armando together and we have him out there tonight,” Davis said. “They're two bigs but they're different and give us a bigger and different look. It helps us in terms of rebounding, and I'm really happy that he had a great game tonight.”
Washington set career highs in points with 17 and rebounds with seven. His scoring output included a pair of 3-pointers, two layups, a dunk, and two mid-range jumpers. His first three rebounds were on the offensive glass, marking a decided turn in his game toward increased physicality and aggressiveness near the rim.
The latter hasn’t always been there when Washington has been on the court. Overcoming the injuries set him back a lot physically, but also mentally. He says he’s well beyond that now.
“I feel a whole lot more confident than I did last year, so I see improvement,” Washington said following the win over the Buccaneers.
And he’s having more fun.
Washington, who is 230 pounds and hails from Gary, IN, had a few opportunities to play solid minutes last season, but each came as a result of either Bacot or Pete Nance being hurt. He’s getting minutes now as a result of his own growth and performance in practice and in games.
Averaging 9.2 minutes per contest, Washington is also averaging 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and nearly a block per game. Those are hefty numbers given his playing time. He is patient, though, as Washington fully understands the process, which is also allowing him to have a lot of fun right now, with Friday his personal peak thus far.
“I had a lot of fun,” he said. “I got some points, got a career-high – which is fun – in a couple of areas. Just played free out there, so it was a lot of fun.”
As for that process, Washington simply lives within his daily plan.
“Just going hard in practice doing extra conditioning to stay ready,” he said. “Doing extra strength training; I’m about to go lift after this. Just value the days because I never know when my number may be called.”
And as for Washington’s production per-minute, his ability to score in bunches, in part because his game is comfortable everywhere on that end of the floor, has shown itself a few times this season, including against some seriously quality opponents. Some examples:
He scored 11 points with five rebounds versus UC Riverside, six points and five rebounds in 10 minutes against Arkansas, seven points and three boards versus Tennessee, four points and two boards in five minutes against Oklahoma, and last Friday’s eruption.
It isn’t just the production either, his coach was quick to point out last week.
“One of the things that I thought is he gave us life,” Hubert Davis said. “We've talked about how we've got to get better in terms of rebounding. He attacked the offensive glass, got second chance opportunities, kept the ball alive and was really good defensively.”
Really good is a way to describe Washington’s minutes more and more, and it could soon lead to more playing time, as UNC’s primary big, and paired with Bacot.
