Inside Jalen Washington's Breakout Performance in Battle 4 Atlantis Championship

Frankie Collins navigated the ballscreen, but appeared to have Vanderbilt’s streaking center Jalen Washington in mind with every dribble down the lane he took. Collins has been an assist machine in Vanderbilt’s three-game Atlantis stretch, but his second-half lob to Washington may have been his most meaningful one.

It wasn’t as much about what Collins did as it was the indication it presented in regard to the corner that Washington had turned. Collins left it up for Washington to go get, the Vanderbilt big man went up over Saint Mary’s big man Harry Wessels and tipped it in through contact prior to slapping hands and letting out a “yeah” while mean mugging in the direction of his teammates on the Vanderbilt bench.

“I feel like my confidence was at an all-time high in this game,” Washington while wearing the Battle 4 Atlantis champion hat said via the postgame Zoom press conference. “My teammates and the coaching staff, they just instill so much confidence in me, no matter how I'm doing. If I'm doing well they want me to keep going, keep getting better, if I'm not doing as well as I want to, or as I may expect, they tell me to keep going, getting better. So it's constantly reinforcing just a positive attitude, a positive outlook and just looking forward.”

Jalen Washington was named to the Battle 4 Atlantis All-Tournament team. | Battle 4 Atlantis

A play like that and a performance like Washington put together on Friday afternoon has always been in there, yet it hadn’t come to light in the way it did in Vanderbilt’s 96-71 over Saint Mary’s in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. To this point, that outing was the magnum opus of Washington’s college basketball career.

The Vanderbilt big man finished Friday with a career-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field and recording two blocks. What Washington did on Friday was the ideal that Vanderbilt had in mind as it took Tyler Nickel’s prompting and added the North Carolina transfer as its primary big man.

“We recognized his talent and we thought he was a perfect fit for us,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “We have high expectations for him and I think after the first game down here, we reiterated how important he was to this team and how expectations and he's been great this summer. I'm going to tell you this, I personally cheer for him and everybody on this team cheers for him 'cause he's such a good person, and he does everything right, and he's got another level. I think he's starting to show it.”

Washington–who had previously looked unsure of himself and how he could add to this thing at times throughout the first seven games of his Vanderbilt career–appeared to be as confident as he’s been since arriving on Vanderbilt’s campus, had the freedom to put on a show and finally unlocked the ability that has appealed to Vanderbilt coach Byington since he first popped on his tape.

After starting the season 2-for-8 from 3-point range, Washington appeared unafraid to let it rip from 3-point range and knocked down two of his four attempts on Friday. The confidence in which Washington–who often worked out as if he was a perimeter-oriented guard this offseason–possesses on the perimeter these days is what he hoped to unlock this offseason as he joined Vanderbilt with the premise that his 3-point shooting ability would be welcomed rather than discouraged.

Now they’re finally going in.

“It felt good,” Washington said of the two makes. “Duke [Miles], TT, [Tyler Tanner] Frankie, guys would just hit me in my spots.  They weren't pressed up on me, so I just stepped into them with confidence and knocked them down.”

Perhaps Washington’s output from beyond the arc was jarring to those who had only observed his college career–in which he shot 27.8% from 3-point range at North Carolina last season on limited attempts–but it appears as if this is repeatable for the Gary, Indiana, native--who was named to the Battle 4 Atlantis all-tournament team.

It appears as if his performance as a whole was more repeatable than his early-season statline indicated.

“We are not surprised,” Washington’s high school coach Chris Buggs told Vandy on SI via text message. “Coach Sean Smith and I have had tough conversations with him about putting in the extra work, reminding him the level he should be playing at, embracing the competition. We are happy for him. Hopefully this could springboard him and the team for the rest of the season.”