(Photo by Vicki Graff for YourSportsEdge.com)
PJ Washington leaves Kentucky with a lot of fond memories about what he’s done on the court during his two years playing for coach John Calipari, including his inspirational play his final two games after returning from a foot injury. However, his parents, Sherry and Paul Washington, will also have plenty to remember both on and off the court..
Paul Washington, a former high school coach, still remembers going to Big Blue Madness for the first time when his son was a freshman. He thought he was prepared for what he would see … but he was wrong.
“It was such a big thing. You really can’t understand just how crazy it gets until you are there,” said Paul Washington. “The Big Blue Nation was just incredible. The enthusiasm and passion for what is not even a legitimate practice just showed you that Kentucky fans loved basketball maybe even more than we realized. And it was not like we didn’t know how Kentucky fans were already, but that exceeded our expectations for what the passion would be like.”
The Washingtons also quickly learned one other thing — Kentucky really is the Super Bowl for every team on the schedule as Calipari had told them. They thought they understood that but really didn’t and that’s one thing Paul Washington has told other parents when they have asked him about UK.
“You get everybody’s best game. No matter who it is, if they beat Kentucky they are going to celebrate,” Paul Washington said. “I think it took PJ some time to fully comprehend that. There are no regular games for Kentucky. Every game is a big deal and I’m sure he’ll never forget that.
“Fortunately for PJ, he’s comfortable in the spotlight. He played at Findlay Prep (in Las Vegas), so he was used to big games, media, lot of fans. Even in high school he knew he had to play hard and didn’t want to have a bad game to disappoint fans. But here at Kentucky, that goes up another 10 notches or so.”
Washington’s father has seen a “maturity” in his son going from a freshman learning what to do to where this season he was able to “direct people” in games. Calipari also put the team on Washington’s back the second half of the season — and he responded in a big way to the very finish when he had 28 points, 13 rebounds in the Elite Eight loss to Auburn.
“He learned how to get things done,” Paul Washington said. “He loves winning. He’ll remember some of his better games, but he’ll remember the wins more and also how much that final loss hurt.”
However, what Washington and his parents will remember most about his time at Kentucky if he enters the NBA draft as expected will be the fans.
“He has just loved the BBN. So many people get excited when you do well,” Paul Washington said. “It almost makes you feel like a rock star with the love the fans give you. It’s insane the love he gets throughout the state. It would not surprise me if he ended up (living) in Kentucky one day just depending on the direction his life goes.
“He has loved being at Kentucky and even when he put his name into the draft last year to get NBA feedback it was never a case of not loving Kentucky. He’s loved everything about Kentucky from day one and that has never really changed and never will.”
