Syracuse basketball preseason player profiles: Howard Washington

This week we continue along with our Syracuse Orange basketball preseason player profiles. Today, we take a look at Howard Washington. In case you missed earlier profiles, check out Brycen Goodine and Bourama Sidibe by clicking the links under their names.

Position: Guard

Class: Redshirt Sophomore

Vitals: 6-foot-3, 175 lbs

Stats: Only played in three games last season before applying for a medical redshirt. Scored 14 points on the Italian tour in August.

Scouting report: Washington is from Buffalo, New York and played basketball at Canisius High School before transferring to Monteverde in Florida. At Monteverde, Washington played with Ben Simmons in the 2014-15 season. He played two years there before finishing his high school career closer to home at Athlete Institute Prep in Canada with Oshae Brissett.

Since arriving at Syracuse, Washington hasn’t had a clean bill of health. In his freshman season (2017-18), he tore his ACL in late January and was forced to sit out Syracuse’s games in February and March. After rehabbing hard and staying at SU that summer, Washington returned to form, but suffered a stroke in September 2018.

Washington has rather remarkably recovered from that stroke and returned to the basketball court. He traveled with the team to Italy this past summer, where he earned some playing time and provided solid minutes at guard.

How he fits: Washington is a pass-first point guard who can create for others while also having the ability to shoot it from range. He’s a cerebral player that likes to get his teammates involved and has a high basketball IQ.

Still, with five scholarship guards on the roster this season it might be difficult to find meaningful playing time.

Ceiling: Washington is able to crack the rotation this season and contribute meaningful minutes as a backup guard. He provides solid minutes in the zone and is able to create off the bounce and set up his teammates, while also keeping the defense honest by hitting from mid-range and from deep.

Floor: Washington doesn’t get meaningful minutes at guard, but still plays well when called upon. Still, he’s able to have an impact by being a great teammate, mentoring the younger guys and challenging his teammates in practice.

Other areas of interest: Howie has a little swag to him.