Darius Washington Jr.
No. 6 – Henan Shedian Laojiu | |
---|---|
Position | Point guard / Shooting guard |
League | NBL |
Personal information | |
Born | Winter Park, Florida | December 6, 1985
Nationality | American / Macedonian |
Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Edgewater (Orlando, Florida) |
College | Memphis (2004–2006) |
NBA draft | 2006: undrafted |
Playing career | 2006–present |
Career history | |
2006 | PAOK Thessaloníki |
2006–2007 | ČEZ Nymburk |
2007 | Austin Toros |
2007 | San Antonio Spurs |
2007–2008 | Aris Thessaloniki |
2008–2009 | Ural Great Perm |
2009–2010 | Galatasaray |
2010–2011 | Lottomatica Roma |
2011 | Piratas de Quebradillas |
2011–2012 | Türk Telekom |
2012 | Piratas de Quebradillas |
2012–2013 | Hapoel Eilat |
2013 | Le Mans Sarthe |
2013–2014 | Olin Edirne |
2014–2015 | ČEZ Nymburk |
2016 | Sakarya Isik Koleji |
2016 | Henan Shedian Laojiu |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball Reference |
Darius Myron Washington Jr. (see names)[a] (born December 6, 1985) is an American-Macedonian professional basketball player who is currently a free agent.
He is a combo guard and played college basketball with the University of Memphis. He has also played with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and the NBA D-League's Austin Toros in 2007.
Amateur career
An AAU national champion at age 10, Washington attended Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida. In his senior year, he played in an ESPN High School Showcase game against future NBA player Sebastian Telfair.
He went to University of Memphis, where he earned Conference USA Rookie of the Year and freshman All-American honors on averages of 15.4 points per game and a team-best 3.8 assists. In the final seconds of the 2005 Conference-USA tournament, Washington was given three free throws to overcome a two-point lead by the sixth-ranked Louisville Cardinals. Although Washington was a 72-percent shooter, he missed two of the three foul shots.[1]
In his sophomore season at the University of Memphis, Washington helped lead the #1-seeded Tigers to an Elite Eight appearance in the 2006 NCAA tournament, losing to eventual runner-up UCLA. He was named to the All-Conference USA first team and earned an honorable mention as an All-American by the Associated Press.
Professional career
On April 25, 2006, Washington declared himself as an early entry candidate for the 2006 NBA Draft. Confident he would be drafted, he signed with a sports agent on June 26, two days before the draft, losing his eligibility to play in college. With analysts being skeptical on his reliability to play point guard, he was not drafted. Although analyst Dick Vitale and others believed Washington had a shot to make an NBA roster as a free agent,[2] he failed to do so after trying out with several teams during training camp.
Europe
He was later drafted by the Austin Toros of the D-League, but he instead chose to sign with PAOK Thessaloniki of the Greek League. In 2007, he led the ČEZ Nymburk team to the Czech Republic League title after leaving PAOK. He played in the ULEB Cup competition during the year with both clubs.
In January 2008, Washington signed a 2-year contract with the Euroleague club Aris Thessaloniki, a team that competes in the Greek League. He was released by Aris after one season. At the end of October 2008, he signed a contract with the Russian Super League club Ural Great Perm.
In July 2009, he signed a contract with Galatasaray Cafe Crown.[3]
In April 2010, he signed with Lottomatica Roma until the end of the season.
In 2011 he joined the Piratas de Quebradillas.[4]
In the summer of 2011, he signed a contract with Türk Telekom.
In January 2013, he joined Israeli side Hapoel Eilat, but only played 6 games with the team, averaging 11ppg and 1.3apg. Though highly praised in Eilat, his contract was bought out and in February, he moved to French side Le Mans.[5] In July 2013, he joined Olin Edirne Basket in Turkey.[6]
On June 23, 2014, he signed with his former team ČEZ Nymburk for the 2014–15 season.[7]
Career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
Bold | Career high |
NBA
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 | San Antonio | 18 | 0 | 8.1 | .438 | .333 | .538 | 1.1 | .8 | .3 | .0 | 2.9 |
Career | 22 | 0 | 8.1 | .438 | .333 | .538 | 1.1 | .8 | .3 | .0 | 2.9 |
Euroleague
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 | Aris | 9 | 2 | 22.6 | .412 | .400 | .789 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 1.3 | .3 | 10.2 | 11.8 |
2010-11 | Roma | 16 | 13 | 26.5 | .507 | .300 | .849 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.1 | .0 | 13.0 | 12.3 |
Career | 25 | 15 | 25.1 | .477 | .333 | .824 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 1.2 | .1 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
NBA
Washington signed with the San Antonio Spurs on October 1, 2007, and was assigned to the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League in late November.[8] He was called up in early December to take Tony Parker's spot on the roster while he healed from an injury; however, Washington was waived by the Spurs on December 28.[9] He appeared in 18 games for the Spurs where he averaged 2.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 8.1 minutes.
He played with the Chicago Bulls during the 2008–09 NBA pre-season, but was waived by the team before the start of the regular season.
Macedonian national team
Washington was granted Macedonian citizenship [when?] [by whom?],[10] and he joined the Macedonian national basketball team.[11]
In popular culture
The song "The Line" by Phish was written about the missed free throws at the conclusion of the 2005 C-USA Championship game. The song premiered in Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 31, 2013. However, during the performance, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio mistakenly referred to Washington as having played for Michigan State, and the missed free throws as having taken place during the Final Four.[12]
Notes
- ^ Well-traveled Washington motors on
- ^ ESPN.com - Dick Vitale - Vitale's 2006 All-Undrafted Underclassmen team
- ^ Darius Washington Galatasaray Cafe Crown'da
- ^ Nuevo Pirata
- ^ Darius Washington to Le Mans
- ^ Darius Washington (ex Le Mans) is a newcomer at Olin Edirne
- ^ CEZ Nymburk announces Darius Washington
- ^ Spurs assign Darius Washington to D-League
- ^ Spurs waive Darius Washington
- ^ Darius Washington basketball profile Nationality: FYR Macedonia-USA.
- ^ Eurobasket2009.org
- ^ Trey Anastasio, 10/31/13
a. | ^ Macedonian spelling: Дариус Вашингтон, Darius Vašington. He was born as Darius Washington, Jr.. |
External links
- Darius Washington at draftexpress.com
- Darius Washington at eurobasket2009.org
- Darius Washington at eurobasket.com
- Darius Washington at euroleague.net
- Darius Washington at nba.com
- Darius Washington at nba.com (D-League)
- Darius Washington at tblstat.net
- 1985 births
- Living people
- American expatriate basketball people in France
- American expatriate basketball people in Greece
- American expatriate basketball people in Israel
- American expatriate basketball people in Italy
- American expatriate basketball people in Russia
- American expatriate basketball people in the Czech Republic
- American expatriate basketball people in Turkey
- Aris B.C. players
- Austin Toros players
- Basketball players from Florida
- ČEZ Basketball Nymburk players
- Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players
- Greek Basket League players
- Le Mans Sarthe Basket players
- Macedonian basketball players
- McDonald's High School All-Americans
- Memphis Tigers men's basketball players
- Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players
- PAOK B.C. players
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- PBC Ural Great players
- Point guards
- San Antonio Spurs players
- Shooting guards
- Sportspeople from Winter Park, Florida
- Türk Telekom B.K. players
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players
- American men's basketball players