In an era of college basketball where offense reigns supreme and highlights from near-logo threes to baptizing-poster dunks are seemingly everywhere, Texas A&M junior forward Solomon Washington’s tranquility lies on the defensive end. He slaps the hardwood, clenches his fists and — like a shark smelling blood in the water — plays with a ferocity that’s seemingly never-ending. Through two seasons, it has paid off for the Aggies.
While Washington enters his third year with the Maroon and White, the team opens up the 2024-25 season as the 13th-ranked team in the nation, tied for the highest preseason ranking in program history. Despite the hype and the potential of where the program could head — especially after pushing then-No. 1 Houston to its limits in last year’s NCAA Tournament — Washington and Co. aren’t worried about any outside influence or expectations.
“[There’s no extra pressure] from us,” Washington said. “It’s probably from and for the outsiders, the people that’s not on the team, but from us, we know what we have to do to be the team we need to be.”
For Washington, it means maintaining his blue-collar, chip-on-his-shoulder, always-hustling brand of basketball. This sort of underdog mentality has been instilled in him since he was a kid. Though he towers over players at 6-foot-7 now, the New Orleans native didn’t always have the necessary height for basketball — especially on the offensive side.
“As a kid, I’ve always played up with the older guys in the neighborhood, in [Amateur Athletic Union],” Washington said. “Just me always being one of the smallest guys on the court — you have to have the most heart. You have to take pride on defense, like, ‘Your man can’t score, or you’ll never get picked up again.’”
That motivation and mentality was accentuated in high school, where Washington earned the moniker “The Five-Star Stopper” en route to being the 2022 recruiting class’s No. 1 player in Louisiana. While his defense and athleticism mainly took the cake for scouts, Washington also gained notoriety for his trash talk: Though mainly reserved for his matchups, he got social media traction for an interaction with a parent at an AAU game.
“You going to be fouling all game,” the parent said to the young Washington.
“You watching me play, goofy,” Washington clapped back before putting the finishing touches on the game with a crowd-draining, exclamation mark windmill reverse slam.
The fiery personality carried over into his tenure at A&M, highlighted on college basketball’s biggest stage. The first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament saw Washington take on former Nebraska guard and social media sensation Keisei Tominaga.
In the regular season, Tominaga racked up 3-pointer after 3-pointer from everywhere on the hardwood, cultivating an upset win over 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey and the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers. With Tominaga’s hot hand bound to go off at any given moment, Washington was tasked with being one of his primary defenders. The drama didn’t disappoint.
The two playmakers traded buckets and stops with trash talk sprinkled in. It reached its climax in the second half, when Tominaga helped off his man and blocked a Washington paint attempt, yelling in front of his face and picking up a technical foul.
But the Five-Star Stopper got the last laugh as A&M went on a roll for the rest of the game to close out the Cornhuskers, 98-83, with Tominaga being limited to just six shots in the second half.
Sophomore F Solomon Washington (13) guards Oral Roberts G Issac McBride (10) during Texas A&M’s game against Oral Roberts in Reed Arena on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. (Photo by Kyle Heise)
For the upcoming season, Washington has his sights on an in-conference opponent in Arkansas and senior G Johnell Davis.
“A matchup I’m looking forward to is Arkansas,” Washington said. “Especially against Johnell Davis. Last year, he got the best of me, so I’m looking forward to that [rematch].”
Though he has donned plenty of jerseys from his basketball career, the one thing that hasn’t changed is Washington’s relationship with his mother — his biggest inspiration.
“I never saw my mom give up, no matter how hard it got,” Washington said with a smile. “No matter the circumstances, she always had a smile on her face.”
