What does the Saddi Washington hire mean for Michigan State basketball?

Michigan State basketball officially hired Saddi Washington to fill the vacant assistant role. What does it mean for the Spartans?

It was announced Thursday morning that Michigan State basketball hired Saddi Washington as an assistant coach on Tom Izzo’s staff.

Washington is set to replace Mark Montgomery after he landed the head coaching job at the University of Detroit. Saddi should be a familiar name to Spartan fans. He is from Lansing and he spent his coaching career close to home as well. Being from Lansing, he grew up with parents who were Spartans. He certainly is no stranger to the green and white — his dad Stanley Washington was an all-time Spartan hoops great.

If you don’t believe me, check out this picture from his Twitter.

Happy Heavenly Bday to my dad Stanley James Washington. He would’ve been 80 today! The original #OleManWash #IAmMyFathersSon pic.twitter.com/KyAjV637Im

— Saddi Washington (@saddiwashington) May 26, 2024

Saddi is most known by Spartan fans for his time spent at the school down the road. He became a household name as an assistant under John Beilein there. When Beilein left Ann Arbor, he was quickly retained by Juwan Howard and staff to continue helping the Wolverines.

Washington also spent some time as an assistant at Oakland working with Greg Kampe. He also coached for a bit with current Alabama coach Nate Oats at Romulus High School after graduating from Western Michigan.

How will Saddi most help Michigan State basketball?

Saddi has been well-known in recent years for his effectiveness in both developing players and recruiting. Two major qualities good coaches possess. What his exact role will be with the Spartans remains to be seen, but he will make his mark in both areas most assuredly.

Washington was a major part of player development with the Wolverines in the latter years of Beilein’s career. Many Wolverine fans and people within the program credit him for helping develop players like Mo and Franz Wagner. I would bet he will start to have a big impact on current Spartans like Xavier Booker and Coen Carr fairly quickly. If he can start consistently developing the bigs, that would be a major win for the program. Many are speculating the bigs will be his main area of focus, even though he spent most of his time at Michigan with wings. I would be super excited for that to be the case, too.

On the recruiting front, Howard was highly regarded as a recruiter. He landed three top 15 recruiting classes in four full recruiting cycles at Michigan. One of which (the 2021 class) was No. 3 in the country. Washington was a big part of that. His ability to develop players and then sell that ability to prospective recruits in Howard’s system really made an impact. So much so that he was awarded the “National Recruiter of the Year” award from 247Sports back in 2021 after Michigan signed the No. 3 class.

The Spartans have seen a bit of a renaissance in recruiting over the past few seasons under Tom Izzo. Hiring Saddi hopefully will build on that. Washington knowing the local recruiting scene will be an added bonus as well. The fanbase’s frustration with production from the center spot has been well-documented. In my opinion, the Washington hire seems to be a direct response to that.

Izzo realizes he needs more consistent play out of his bigs. That’s just a fact. Hiring what many consider to be one of the top available assistant coaches in the country whose specialties have shown to have a direct impact on that position just seems like a no-brainer to me.

Michigan fans seem to also agree. Most of the Wolverine fans I have seen discussing this over the past few weeks all seemed to agree that MSU is hiring a great coach. One of my close friends (who is a Michigan die-hard) messaged me this morning saying, “Good for him. He is a good guy and a good coach.”

Overall, I agree. Even with my green-tinted biases over the years, I did see how effective a coach like Washington could be in Ann Arbor and you had to respect it. I am excited to see him join Izzo’s staff and for the potential impact he will have on the staff. I think he is a natural fit for Michigan State basketball and this caps off a pretty solid offseason for Izzo.

Welcome home, Saddi.