WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Washington brings brains, experience to Irish bench
Tim Casey
Assistant Sports Editor
Coquese Washington's résumé reads like an excerpt from a fiction novel.
The 30-year-old Irish assistant coach led Notre Dame to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1992, received her undergraduate degree in three years, taught special education for a year, graduated from Notre Dame law school in 1997, practiced law for a prestigious Manhattan firm in 1998 then accepted her current position in the fall of 1999.
And, oh yeah, by the way, she has played professional basketball for the past four seasons. In the summer of 2000, Washington was a member of the Houston Comets' WNBA championship squad.
Not bad for a girl who, despite being a star player at Flint (Mich.) Central High School, did not realize she would even receive a college scholarship.
"Until about six or seven years ago, young girls never had an opportunity to dream about being a professional athlete as a career," Washington said. "They never had that idea that being an athlete is OK, being an athlete is cool, being an athlete is something to aspire to. It's great to be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever but now you also say `I can be a center or I can be a point guard.'"
In the late 1980s the idea of a women's professional basketball league in the United States was less likely than a Vince McMahon-run professional football league.
So although from seventh grade on, the self-proclaimed "gym rat" would go to high school practice then to AAU practice and then play with the men at the local YMCA or the University of Michigan-Flint, Washington's goals remained strictly academic-based.
"I knew I wanted to go to college," Washington said, "and be successful at whatever I decided to do."
Thanks to the constant prodding from her mother, Washington realized her aspirations.
"She emphasized day in and day out that if you don't want to be in the Rescue Mission or be homeless, then you've got to get your homework done," Washington said. "I would constantly be like `if my mom ever found out, she'd kill me.'"
The 5-foot-6 point guard started as a freshman for the Irish and two years later Washington led Notre Dame to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. Following her junior year, Washington took 18 credit hours during summer school and in August 1992, she graduated with a history degree.
In her senior season, while taking graduate courses, the Irish struggled to a 15-12 record. But for the third straight season, Washington ranked first on the team in steals and assists.
"I think in my four years that we definitely paved the way a little bit for future success," Washington said.
After traveling for three months, Washington returned to Flint and taught high school history and social studies from the fall of 1993 to the spring of 1994. She worked with special education children in a poor environment, a setting far different than the one she had been accustomed to while at Notre Dame.
"I had so much admiration for those kids," Washington said. "They were phenomenal in their ability to attack adversity."
In the fall of 1994, Washington enrolled in Notre Dame law school and continued to play basketball with friends and members of the Irish women's team. Then, in 1995, there was a report that a women's professional basketball league would be beginning in the near future.
Her law school friends kept telling Washington that she should give the league a chance. So in the summer of 1996, Washington headed for the American Basketball League's (ABL) tryouts in Atlanta. At that time, her mother was living in nearby Savannah, Ga.
"I'm thinking I'll go down and visit my mom and have a nice little vacation before I start working for the summer," Washington said.
She never went back to her job as a law clerk in Flint. Washington made it through all the cuts and was drafted by the ABL's Portland Power. She was still unsure whether she would ever play for the Power but then Portland's general manager made an offer Washington couldn't refuse.
Washington could take classes at Portland's Lewis and Clark College's law school and also play point guard for the Power.
"That was challenging," Washington said, "to say the least."
When she finished the season, Washington re-enrolled at Notre Dame mid-way through the spring 1997 semester. By May, she had received enough credits and graduated with her original law school class.
Following the commencement, Washington played for the WNBA's New York Liberty for two seasons. She also practiced law at the firm of Rubin, Baum and Levin in Manhattan during the fall of 1998.
And in the fall of 1999, Muffet McGraw, her old college coach, asked Washington to join the Irish staff.
"The best part of this job is just working with the kids," Washington said. "It's great helping them see how great they can be on and off the court."
In the next few months, Washington hopes to attain two championships — one
as a coach and the other as a player. After the NCAA tournament, she plans on
returning to Houston and helping the Comets defend their title.
"I wouldn't trade it for the world," Washington said of playing. "I don't understand how the guys in the NBA can just screw it up by doing stupid stuff off the court. You're making eight million a year and you work two hours a day for maybe seven months. I don't understand what they're thinking."
As always, Washington knows what she's thinking about.
"I kid Val Ackerman (the WNBA's President) all the time," Washington said. "I tell her I'm going to take her job when she retires."
Don't bet against it.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Friday, March 2, 2001
