Jeremy Washington’s teammates call him “Uncle Drew.”
“It’s a … commercial of an old guy playing basketball … So they got it from that, and since I’m the oldest guy, they just call me that. It doesn’t bother
me, though. I like that. It’s pretty funny,” said Washington, an Industrialized Business major.
Washington wraps up his senior year with a total of 244 rebounds, 102 assists, 29 blocked shots, 39 steals and 348 points for his career here at UTM. He had a career best of 11 rebounds against Arkansas State and a career high of 3 blocked shots against Morehead State in the first round of the OVC Tournament.
Washington didn’t exactly have a direct path into playing basketball for UTM.
“Well, actually, I played a little basketball in high school, but I got injured. I was just playing around and decided I wanted to come back and play basketball,” Washington said.
That led him to a tryout for Conners State in Oklahoma, a junior college.
“It’s just a two-year college, so after there, you go on to play, and I like this program, so I wanted to come here,” Washington said.
Washington sees potential in the Men’s basketball program here at UTM.
“The program last year was real down, so this year to see it making progress and me being a part of it making progress, hopefully it’ll be a name that everyone knows [for] years to come. … Getting our first conference win against Austin Peay would have to be the highlight, because last year we didn’t win a conference game and that was tough, so when we finally got a conference win, that’s kind of when the program started looking up,” Washington said.
Even with all the basketball games, Washington still takes the time to relax.
“I text a lot. I’m always texting. And I like playing games on my phone. … I like playing video games and listening to music. I love listening to music,” Washington said.
Washington’s post-graduation plans include more basketball.
“Well, I’m going to try and see if I can get some overseas tryouts, and if that doesn’t work, I guess I’ll get a job at a business and go to grad school and try to pick up physical therapy,” Washington said.
When Washington graduates in May, he wants to leave a positive impression.
“I just want to have been a good teammate to everyone. I enjoy playing with them. I want to be missed, like everyone doesn’t want me to leave, but it’s my time to go,” Washington said.
