Part of a championship in each of her previous three seasons, including last year’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, Niki Washington begins her fourth year with Bethune-Cookman University Women’s Basketball.
Washington’s 18-year career includes stops at Florida A&M, Illinois State and Lynn University, serving six seasons as head coach (2009-15) at the Boca Raton, Florida school.
While at Lynn, Washington claimed several program firsts when the Knights won their first Sunshine State Conference Tournament game and later first SSC Tournament title, claiming the first SSC regular season title, earning the first NCAA Tournament bid and earning the first NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
Washington posted a 90-101 (.471) career record and 37-59 (.384) mark in SSC play. During the 2013-14 season, Washington became the program’s all-time leader in overall and league victories.
Three of players reached 1,000 points in their careers while two other set records for season and career three-point shooting.
One of Washington’s top individual triumphs was the development of Kira Harvey into one of the top players in the SSC. Harvey is the only player in program history to be a three-time All-America selection while also being named SSC Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Harvey was the first student-athlete in SSC history to win Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
Washington also helped three student-athletes accumulate All-America honors, six All-SSC accolades, two all-south region awards, a South Region Player of the Year honor and a SSC
Tournament Most Outstanding Player honoree. She also was the only coach in program history to have defeated every school in the Sunshine State Conference at least once during their tenure
.
Prior to arriving in Boca Raton, Washington served as the assistant coach for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe Florida A&M for six seasons. During her time in Tallahassee, the Lady Rattlers produced five All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selections while Washington helped oversee the development of a MEAC Rookie of the Year and a MEAC Player of the Year.
Born in Sanford, Florida, Washington was a prep phenom at Seminole High School, becoming a highly-sought after player. She was named the Gatorade Florida High School Player of the Year in 1993 and earned high school All-America notices from Street and Smith Magazine as well as from Converse.
She signed with the University of Houston in 1993, where she was part of a recruiting class thatranked fourth in the nation. However injuries her freshman year at Houston prompted a move back home, where she enrolled at Seminole Community College.
At SCC, Washington blossomed into a top performer on the court, earning a spot on the 1995 NJCAA Mid-Florida Conference All-Star team. After graduating from SCC, she moved on to
Southern Illinois to play for coaching pioneer Cindy Scott, finishing second in the Missouri Valley Conference in her first season.
Following her time at SIU, Washington again returned home to Sanford where she served as an assistant coach at Seminole Community College from 1999-2002. She helped the Raiders captured two Mid-Florida Conference Championships and advance to regional play in 2001-02 while collecting numerous all-conference accolades, two Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year selections, five National Junior College Athletic Association All-State/Region players and one Kodak/WBCA NJCAA All-American.
After finishing her collegiate at SIU, she played for the NWBL Florida Fury in 1999-2000, which led to an invitation to the Detroit Shock training camp in 2000. She signed a professional contract in 2000 with Herlev-BMS in Copenhagen, Denmark. She earned the 2001 women's club MVP award, while helping the team win the Danish Cup National title.
A 1999 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, she holds a B.S. degree in Speech Communications and Interpersonal Communications.
