Willie Washington, Athletic Director Who Built Benedict Into an SIAC Power, Passes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Willie Washington spent 38 years building Benedict College athletics. His time there was so long that few in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference can remember the Tigers before him.

Benedict announced the death of its longtime athletic director Tuesday.

During his time at Benedict, Washington worked with four college presidents, oversaw a conference change, brought back the football program, helped build a stadium, and expanded the athletic department from eight to 14 sports.

Benedict has not yet shared his age or the cause of death. Funeral plans were still pending as of Tuesday afternoon.

“Benedict College has lost a legendary leader, but his legacy will never be lost,” the college said in announcing his death.

The statement ended with three lines that are likely to be remembered on the Columbia campus for years to come:

“Forever a Tiger. Forever our Athletic Director. Forever a part of Benedict College.”

Benedict's athletic director Willie Washington passes | Benedict College Athletics

Willie Washington Took On Two Roles And Succeeded In Both

Washington joined Benedict in 1988 as the head men’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director, after 12 years of coaching and working in athletic administration at nearby Allen University.

He later became Benedict’s athletic director and continued coaching basketball. After 11 years, he left coaching to focus on leading the athletic department full-time.

His coaching record is rarely discussed, but it remains an important part of his legacy.

Washington guided Benedict to four NAIA national tournament appearances and nine Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships. He was named EIAC Coach of the Year eight times, and his Benedict teams never had a losing season.

In 1999, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics named Washington the NAIA Southeast Region Athletic Director of the Year.

By that time, he had spent over ten years building both the basketball program and the athletic department.

When Washington started, the department had eight sports. Under his leadership, Benedict grew to 14 varsity sports, brought back football, moved from the NAIA to NCAA Division II, and rejoined the SIAC.

Benedict announced a new club wrestling program on August 6, less than a month before Washington passed away.

The Numbers Behind Washington’s Benedict Legacy

The number of championships is just one way to see Washington’s impact.

Under his leadership, Benedict won 50 SIAC championships: eight in women’s basketball; six each in women’s track and field and men’s tennis; five each in men’s basketball, men’s cross country and women’s tennis; four each in men’s track and field and cheerleading; three in women’s cross country; two in football; and one each in softball and men’s golf.

There are also the Commissioner’s Cups, which the SIAC uses to measure overall athletic excellence.

Through the 2023-24 academic year, Benedict had won 10 of the 18 men’s and women’s Commissioner’s Cup trophies awarded since the current format began in 2014, more than any other conference institution. Benedict swept the men’s and women’s awards four times.

Washington also changed the physical landscape of Benedict athletics.

Football returned to the college in the 1990s after a decades-long absence. Charlie W. Johnson Stadium later gave the program an on-campus home.

Both of these changes occurred while Washington was at Benedict and helped shape the future of the school’s athletics program.

The Tigers started their 2026 football season at Charlie W. Johnson Stadium against Johnson C. Smith on August 29, just three days before Benedict announced Washington’s passing.

The Chennis Berry Hire Changed Benedict Football

One of Washington’s most important decisions came in February 2020.

Washington and Benedict President Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis introduced Chennis Berry as the Tigers’ head football coach.

Berry turned Benedict into an NCAA Division II contender, leading the team to back-to-back SIAC championships in 2022 and 2023. He earned both regional and national coaching honors before leaving for South Carolina State in December 2023.

His success continued after Benedict.

Since then, Berry has won two straight MEAC championships at South Carolina State, led the Bulldogs to the 2025 Cricket Celebration Bowl title, and 2025 HBCU Football Division I National Championship.

Jarod Washington, a defensive back who began his collegiate career at Benedict before following Berry to South Carolina State, signed with the Minnesota Vikings in August.

That coaching tree and player development pipeline became another part of Washington’s legacy. The coaches and players he supported kept winning even after they left Benedict.

Washington Built Beyond Championships

Washington had an influence that extended beyond scoreboards and championships at Benedict. While he was in charge, the school’s student-athletes kept their average GPA above 3.0. In addition, the college had its first two Academic All-Americans in 2015, another in 2017, and a fourth in 2023.

He helped Benedict receive NCAA grants for degree completion and alcohol education. In 2020, the school received funding to hire an academic counselor and an assistant track-and-field coach.

In 2010, Benedict athletics received the NCAA Division II National Community Engagement Award of Excellence.

Washington served on several NCAA committees, including the Division II Men’s Basketball Committee, the Management Council, the Honors Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He also led the SIAC Athletic Directors Committee.

Beyond college athletics, Washington chaired the board of the Laurinburg Institute, the historic Black preparatory school in North Carolina.

The South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP awarded him its Presidential Citation Civic Leadership Award in 2012 for his community service.

The SIAC Put Willie Washington’s Name On Its Top AD Award

Washington received many honors throughout his career.

He was inducted into the Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Benedict College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. He later was inducted into the Laurinburg Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Finney Hall of Fame in 2018.

In July 2024, the SIAC Hall of Fame enshrined Washington during ceremonies at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman described Washington’s contributions to Benedict athletics as “legendary.”

Artis called his induction “a fitting tribute to his nearly 40-year career.”

The conference later bestowed on him an honor that may outlast any plaque.

The SIAC established the Willie Washington Athletic Director of the Year Award in recognition of his contributions to the conference. Tuskegee Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Reginald Ruffin received the 2025-26 award at SIAC Football Media Day in July.

Washington saw the conference name an award after him, honoring his nearly 40 years of work at Benedict.

Washington graduated from Tougaloo College in 1974, where he played basketball, and later earned a master’s degree from Jackson State University. In 2024, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his Tougaloo class.

He is survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Benedict now faces a challenge it has not seen in modern times: finding someone to replace Willie Washington.

The college must start this transition during the football season, after almost 40 years of steady leadership.

Whoever comes after Washington will take over an athletic department with 50 SIAC championship banners, a revived football program, a stadium, and a standard so high that the conference named an award after him.

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