ECU has been in need of additional size in the paint and along with some others who will be on the roster this season one face stands out in the crowd.
7-footer Andre Washington transfers over to ECU from Wake Forest. He arrived during the summer of 2016 after graduating with a degree in communications. With one year of eligibility remaining Washington is pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
In his time at Wake Forest, Washington appeared in 67 games and made one start over his first three seasons before redshirting during the 2015-16 campaign. He scored 116 points (1.7 ppg), grabbed 81 rebounds (1.2 rpg) and tallied 57 blocks during his three season with the Demon Deacons and the team with 39 blocks during the 2013-14 season and ranked 10th in the ACC with 1.3 blocks per game.
“I’ve had my highs and lows in college. So far so good. Everybody has been pretty welcoming. My teammates are good and the coaching staff is pretty good so no complaints my way,” Washington said, “I think I’m pretty solid. I’ve been here since May. Right after I graduated from Wake Forest I came here the next day and I’ve just been working every day since with the team and we’re going together pretty well. We’re pretty talented and I think we can compete with just about anyone."
ECU head coach Jeff Lebo is happy with the size he has coming into this season overall and sees Washington as a big plus for the Pirates.
“We’ve got some experience inside. Andre Washington who is 7-1 and three quarters is going to be a factor for us I think inside. It’s going to take some time for Andre to get back into playing. He hasn’t played for a year, but he’s big and he’s a target and he’s going to be a factor for us in there. Just standing there he would be a factor,” Lebo told PirateIllustrated.com.
A 2012 graduate of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, Washington played at Roanoke Catholic High School before transferring to Hargrave Military. Washington led Hargrave to a 38-1 record and the No. 2 ranking in the country in 2011-12 and was a 2012 McDonald’s All-America nominee.
He played at Franklin County High School as a sophomore before transferring to Roanoke Catholic and re-classifying to the class of 2012 and was rated as a three-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. ESPN ranked him as the No. 14 player in the state of Virginia and the No. 46 center in the class of 2012. Washington played AAU ball for East Coast Fusion.
Click into our preseason interview with Andre Washington as PirateIllustrated.com's preseason basketball coverage continues.
