Big man Warren Washington a prominent figure for ASU men's basketball team

CORVALLIS, Oregon — Warren Washington stepped onto the Oregon State campus as a wide-eyed true freshman to get his first taste of college basketball and navigate the demands of living on his own for the first time.

That was five years and two schools ago. Now the 7-foot forward is flourishing on and off the court. He's back where his college basketball journey started — only now as a key component for a suddenly-surging Arizona State basketball team that will stop at Oregon State's Gill Coliseum for a 2 p.m. Pac-12 showdown on Saturday.

The game between ASU (14-3, 5-1) and Oregon State (7-10, 1-5) will air on the Pac-12 Network.

Washington is excited about the return to Corvallis, even though his time there was brief. The coach that recruited him, Wayne Tinkle, is still directing the Beavers.

"I spent a year there and it helped me become what I am today," he said of his time in the Pacific Northwest. "Without Oregon State, I’m not the player I am right now. Everything happens for a reason, I truly believe that. I definitely struggled there but I feel like if you’re not uncomfortable, then you’re not going to get better in life. I think stepping outside my boundaries helped me be who I am today."

After playing that one season in Corvallis, Washington moved to the University of Nevada. He had to sit out the 2019-2020 season after the transfer, then had three seasons in a Wolfpack uniform, averaging 10.5 points, and 6.6 rebounds. Last season was a disappointment and the team chemistry wasn't great, so Washington sought a second transfer.

The Sun Devils had another Nevada transfer in Desmond Cambridge Jr., who moved over to Tempe along with brother Devan, who previously played at Auburn. It would be natural to think it was Desmond Cambridge who helped lure Washington to ASU. Not only were the two teammates at Nevada, they were roommates too.

But both say Cambridge's input was minimal. Among the other schools Washington was considering were Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Marquette, Ohio State and Florida.

"I definitely gave him my spiel but I wanted him to have his own freedom," Cambridge said. "I felt like that would be too much to try and do it every day. I literally told him one time what it was going to be and only if he asked me I would tell him the great things about it. That's my brother. If he had gone to another school I'd still talk to him daily. I treat people as people first before basketball players and that's a real brother to me."

Hurley contacted Washington the day his name appeared in the portal. It has been a while since the Sun Devils had a true big man and it was lack of a presence in the paint and rebounding that factored into their 14-17 showing last season.

On the road:Arizona State humiliates Oregon on its own floor, improves to 5-1 in Pac-12 play

Washington, who has a degree in communications and is working on a master's in leadership, said he liked the idea of playing for Hurley, who has always let his players have freedom in the offense. However, it was really the offensive and defensive philosophies that appealed to him.

"(Hurley's) pitch was that they play defense. Everything focuses on defense. I wanted to go somewhere I could be a defensive anchor and I liked the fact that they run and gun, the offensive scheme isn't too much, he doesn't put you in barriers. All he cares about is defense," he said. "I do like the freedom and how much of a players' coach he (Hurley) is. And him being the best point guard in college basketball history is a big thing. Bobby is one of the biggest competitors I've ever seen in my life and that's helped me as a player too."

Washington agreed that Cambridge let him make up his own mind. He said when he decided to transfer, the Pac-12 was always his preference since his career started in it. ASU also made sense because he was born in Gilbert and has a grandmother in Avondale. He has many cousins in the area as well.

Washington moved to San Diego when he was 5 because father Calvin's job as an engineer took the family there.

"He (Cambridge) wasn’t as big an influence as everyone else thinks," Washington said. "Just because Arizona was already my second home. I felt like this was a perfect option."

Washington's numbers this season don't tell the entire story. He's averaging 8.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. His .667 field goal percentage ranks third in the Pac-12. But ASU boasts a balanced attack with four players averaging double figures led by D.J Horne (12.3 ppg) and Desmond Cambridge Jr. (12.2 ppg).

Washington doesn't always get a lot of touches offensively. He had just two shot attempts in ASU's loss at San Francisco. He has also had two games in which he had only three field goal tries. One of those came on Thursday night as the Sun Devils completely overpowered Oregon 90-73 in the first game of the road doubleheader. He made all three of those tries and went 4-for-5 from the line for a solid 10 points in the game. But he also tallied eight rebounds and two blocks.

There are other games in which he factored more on offense. He was 9-for-10 from the field for 18 points in a 77-71 win over Washington State last week.

It's usually a matter of what the defense is giving. While Washington had minimal shot attempts in the Sun Devils most recent outing, ASU cruised to a convincing win because it shot 52% from the field which included 13 3-pointers.

Even when the offense isn't running through the big man, Washington has factored defensively. Last week in that win over Washington State, Hurley's big man limited the Cougars' Mouhamed Gueye to 3-for-8 shooting from the field.

"You look at what he's done and playing against a guy like (Mouhamed) Gueye on Thursday and being as productive as he was in that matchup against one of the best young big guys in the conference," Hurley said. "So for Warren to play that well, it says a lot about what he's doing. It's not just his offensive production which I think is starting to come on. We're starting to find ways to improve that for him. He brings it defensively with his rebounding every game."

If the Sun Devils don't falter in Corvallis, it would set up a showdown for first place in the conference on Thursday when UCLA (15-2, 10-0) travels an 8:30 p.m. contest at Desert Financial Arena.

Nevada was 13-18 last season, so Washington and Cambridge say they're energized by winning and individual numbers are not important.

"I feel like it's a culture and a standard we've set here that we're going to play for each other. We don't care about individual accolades. It speaks to the team, our coaches and our culture. We definitely played a good first half of the season but now we have another half and we have to finish strong," Washington said.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU's forward returns to Oregon State where college career started