Sacha Washington’s ability is known.

She started every single game of her sophomore and junior seasons and, before this year, had appeared in all 99 of Vanderbilt’s contests over the past three years. The 2023-24 season was her best yet, as she averaged career-bests of 12.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Those numbers helped bring the Commodores back to the pinnacle of college basketball — the NCAA Tournament — for the first time in over a decade. 

For the first three seasons of her career, Washington was, if nothing else, consistent. 

That’s what has made this season so difficult. The senior was held out of Vanderbilt’s first six games as she sought secondary and tertiary opinions for a non-basketball injury that kept her off the court. Eventually, on Nov. 25, Washington announced that she’d been diagnosed with a blood clot in her right calf and would have to miss the entirety of the 2024-25 season.

“It was really hard to believe at first because you just don’t think things like that can happen to you. I didn’t think stuff like that could happen to me, [and] I also didn’t know what it came with,” Washington told The Hustler. “So when I actually had to sit down and figure out this process, I was scared, and I was very, very sad because I didn’t know what was going to happen next.” 

After she sat with it, she faced her fears. Washington trusted the process, and she trusted God. 

“[God] has a plan for all of us. So I really just embraced the process, and it’s been so much fun,” Washington said. “Even though I’ve been sitting out, I’ve been having so much fun.”

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For all the fun she has had, Washington has also grown as a person and as a leader. 

“[Being sidelined has] been very good for me in many different ways,” Washington said. “’I’m very grateful that I’ve been put in this opportunity at all. I’m just grateful that I can still play. It just made me take a step back, ultimately, but I am much better now, so I’ve just been enjoying it.”

Her path to growth, while easier to see now, wasn’t always so clear to Washington. As is often the case with season-long injuries, the senior has had to deal with her fair share of trials and tribulations. Washington has been the team’s leading rebounder for each of the last two years and has had to watch the team struggle on the defensive glass — Vanderbilt’s 23.3 defensive rebounds per game ranked 14th in the SEC. 

“Not being out there with my teammates is really hard,” Washington said. “There’s games where you feel like you want to go out there, and it’s really hard for you to just sit back and watch.” 

Washington has always been a leader for Vanderbilt, and that hasn’t changed this year — though the way she has gone about leading has changed. 

“I’ve had to be more vocal because usually when I’m on the court, I like to lead by example. [I] don’t really like to talk a lot, but this has taught me to be more vocal,” Washington said. “I just make sure that I’m always on point in practice — making everyone around me better, including myself, and just taking the time to build relationships with teammates.”

Her change in leadership style had to come quickly, as the team entered a tough stretch against Arizona, Michigan State and Miami before jumping right into SEC play in January. Washington knew she’d have to pick it up as she went along. 

“[Vocal leadership is] something that I had to grasp pretty quickly. I think it’s needed anyway when you’re playing on the court,” Washington said. “That’s something I’ve had to pick up along the way. It has gotten much easier for me as the season has gone by. By now, obviously, it’s like second nature for me.”

So now, nearly four months later, Washington has embraced her role as a leader off the court for Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball. She couldn’t have reached this point, though, without a little support from the people around her. Her relationship with head coach Shea Ralph and the rest of the coaching staff exemplifies that. 

“Coach Ralph and her staff are obviously amazing people, so they supported me, really, every step of the way,” Washington said. “Every phase when I didn’t want to get up and come in, they were in my ear, like: ‘We need you here. We need you to embrace this process.’”

She said Ralph’s inclusion of her made all the difference in her recovery. 

“Coach Ralph still included me as a huge part of this process as a whole,” Washington said. “I’m grateful for that as well, to still be included in certain things.” 

Ralph noted how proud she was of Washington back in December.

“Once she got past the disappointment of not playing this year, I think she started to really embrace the opportunity that it presents for her to become a better basketball player,” Ralph said. “I think it’s already helped her leadership; it’s helped her be a voice on the bench.

Her coaches aren’t the only ones in the locker room who have supported her through the entire process; Washington’s teammates have lifted her up and made it clear that they need her.

“They’ve also been extremely supportive. They’ve been the kind of people who like to bring me up when I’m down. So if I’m feeling down any day, they’re definitely picking me up every single day,” Washington said. “They’re making me better on the court, off the court. If I didn’t have them, I really would just be doing this alone.”

Her absence has been felt statistically, but one player has stepped up to fill Washington’s massive shoes: Khamil Pierre. 

“[Pierre] is extremely incredible. Her ability on a basketball court is insane,” Washington said. “We need her rebounding skills. We need her scoring skills. We need all that.”

Washington noted the importance of making Pierre know just how important she is. 

“[I’ve been] leading her, making sure that she knows she’s a key piece of what we have going on here, and we need her every day to step up, play hard and work hard,” Washington said. “She’s having an incredible season and she’s really taken a step up, so I’m extremely proud of her.” 

Washington will tell you that this growth transcends just her and Pierre. 

“I think we’re growing. I think a lot of people are maturing, really stepping into and accepting their roles. [We have] different mindsets about things. I think it’s just a different sense of maturity,” Washington said. “We don’t want to feel [like we did last March]. We don’t want to feel like we’re underprepared, and we’re doing everything we can to prepare for when that moment comes again.”

She has more games donning the Black and Gold under her belt than anyone else on the team this year, and she knows what March Madness is like. The time has come once again as Vanderbilt prepares to take on Oregon in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.  

The Georgia native might not be playing in the 2025 postseason, but she was a key piece in the team’s 2024 trip to the Big Dance. Washington scored 16 points and added 15 rebounds in the team’s win over Columbia in the First Four. Now, she’s focused on bestowing her wisdom upon the rest of her team. 

“Just be tough,” Washington said of her message to her teammates. “Everybody wants to win. We know that we’re gonna have to compete every second. We don’t have a lot of room for error at this point in time.”

Washington noted that she and her teammates are focusing on tidying up the little things, but more than anything else, they’re excited. 

“We’re ready,” Washington said. “We’re ready to go above and beyond and make a run in this tournament.” 

Expect to see Washington cheering louder and smiling wider than anybody else in Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Black and Gold square off with Oregon at 4:30 p.m. CDT on March 21.