This season, Taleah Washington, a graduate student guard at Wagner College in Staten Island, tied an NCAA record for the second most assists in a women’s game with 22. To think, she almost didn’t come to Wagner. After completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology and human services at Old Dominion, Washington felt she’d accomplished her goal of being the first person in her family to graduate from college.
“I was so ready to get into coaching and get into my big girl job,” Washington recalled. “I ended up talking to Coach T (Wagner coach Terrell Coburn) and he said I could get a master’s and still play. I took that leap of faith.”
Washington will graduate with her master’s in leadership and ethics in May. This past weekend, Washington took a huge step forward in pursuing a career as a basketball coach, something she’s wanted to do since she was a kid by taking part in the WBCA’s highly selective “So You Want to Be a Coach” program held in conjunction with the Final Four.
“I want to get into coaching to inspire the younger generation with basketball,” Washington said. “It’s growing so fast now; it’s the perfect time.”
Her desire to become a coach began when she was in elementary school and her father would take her along as he coached a boys’ high school team. Once her father saw she had an interest in basketball, he switched to coaching girls because there wasn’t a program for girls.
“When he was coaching boys, because I was so intrigued with everything that was going on. He was coaching varsity and I was helping with [junior varsity],” she said. “It came so naturally. … My mom has pictures of me literally coaching high school boys and … I had the board with the plays.”
Last weekend, Washington not only met fellow participants, but also some of the great coaches of the game. In addition to detailed programming about the coaching profession, “So You Want to Be a Coach” participants attended the Final Four semifinal games. All of the players her father coached graduated from high school and most went on to college. Now, it’s her time to carry on that family tradition.
“When I found out I was accepted, I was so ecstatic,” she said. “On the court, off the court, I want to help the next generation.”