Adding Saddi Washington to Michigan State basketball staff was genius move

Michigan State Basketball knew it had a spot open on its coaching staff heading into the 2024-25 season, as former head assistant Mark Montgomery took the Detroit Mercy job this offseason.

So the Spartans had been looking, and now they have found their guy. MSU made it official that it's hiring Saddi Washington as an assistant coach.

Tom Izzo spoke on adding Washington via a university official statement.

"Saddi is not only a real and genuine person, but he's an incredible coach who has had a great career working for some great people, from my good friend Greg Kampe at Oakland and to his last eight years at Michigan, under both John Beilein and Juwan Howard," Izzo said. "He's an outstanding teacher with a great basketball IQ and has been recognized as a great recruiter, in and out of Michigan."

Washington was a perfect choice and candidate given his expertise. He had spent the last eight seasons on the Michigan coaching staff under both John Beilein and was one of the better pieces that remained on the staff under Juwan Howard as that era went sour.

With the removal of Howard, Washington found himself out of a job, but where better to look than somewhere he had spent plenty of time around as a kid?

Washington is the son of the late great Stan Washington, a 1,000-plus point scorer for the Spartans between 1963 and 1966. The green and white is in his blood, so it was only natural for Izzo to bring him home.

Saddi brings an ability to coach wings and bigs and his defensive coaching ability was pretty stout during his time with the Wolverines.

His journey has been long, from playing at Western Michigan to coaching at Oakland before joining Michigan's staff in 2016.

Some of his best moments were being key in helping the Wolverines reach the national title game in 2018. That team was stout, and Washington had his hands all over that team, working with bigs like Moritz Wagner, and Jon Teske, along with plenty of other NBA talent in Jordan Poole, Isaiah Livers, and Duncan Robinson.

Coaching for the Spartans bigs was a major need this offseason, as the frontcourt has struggled the last four seasons. To see him work with Xavier Booker, Carson Cooper, Jaxson Kohler, and Szymon Zapala is only going to help those guys.

Ever since Dwayne Stephens (WMU head coach) and Dane Fife left the Spartans, post players have struggled to be productive consistently.

I think Washington can step in and help that right away, along with giving the Spartans a fresh face on the sideline. Not to mention what he is going to bring to an already stout recruiting strategy that Izzo has.

Welcome home, Saddi. I'm sure your dad is looking down with a huge smile on his face.