6-foot-1 returning San Jose State University sophomore point Jermaine Washington is ready for the season to start now. He foresees San Jose State University having a winning season and, as one of only four Spartan scholarship returnees to date, his take is the team is meshing well despite having to blend in a large number of newcomers.
Even as an underclassman, Washington is also ready to provide leadership to his crew, something he believes has to come from, although is not limited to, the player holding down the point guard position.
Washington's First Season
Out of Riverside County, Washington saw plenty of action in his initial year, playing in 34 games (out of 35) and starting seven while averaging 20 minutes a contest, seventh on the team. Regarding his sole season, he looked back and explained, "I wanted to be a spark defensively, not force anything offensively and get the game to slow down for me."The latter is a term where greater experience generally allows a player to better know what to expect and understand what will and won't occur/work in various situations on the court. He added, "playing the point is the most difficult position and I always want to do better."
Why did he choose SJSU? CalHiSports named Washington to its All-State Underclass Team in 2023 and he then signed a letter-of-intent in mid-November 2023 (his SJSU offer came in mid-July). After a visit along with his family to Spartanville, "I felt like SJSU was a better opportunity."
As a senior, CalHiSports selected Washington to its All-State open division/D1 fourth team in 2024. Despite the distance from a home in Riverside County, "my family has been to a lot of my games in San Jose and the San Diego State game down there."
This Coming Season
As for his role in the upcoming season, Washington sees himself "being more inspirational and a more vocal and emotional leader, getting my teammates to the right spots, and playing my game. When the energy is low, it's my job to pick the guys up by talking and encouraging them."
He noted it's important to find out what works and what doesn't work in connecting with each teammate when he converses.
Asked to detail his skills set, Washington started his analysis with, "always playing hard." Then, "I shoot the ball really well and I'm really good on defense." In getting prepared for the new season, Washington is working on shooting accuracy with an assistant coach until he makes 400 shots, twice a day.
The team is coming off a series of workouts that start with performing drills, then working on offense and defense as again, Coach Tim Miles and his staff are having to introduce unfamiliar systems of play on both sides of the court to seven scholarship newcomers (the eighth is still overseas playing ball but will report soon). Plus three of the returnees are relatively new underclassmen.
Does Washington envision the Spartans having a successful season in 2025-26? "Definitely, we are capable of having a winning season." What may be a little thought of factor vis-Ã -vis hoops prosperity is Washington's response to a query about who is the funniest Spartan. Possibly diplomatically, he said, "A lot of them, I'm not going to lie. This is a funny group and a really good personality team."
Undecided on a major at this point, Washington is mulling over the directions of business or kinesiology.