Semoball

Southland graduate Ty're Washington steps away from factory work, earns opportunity to coach boys basketball at Delta C-7

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Delta C-7 boys basketball coach Ty're Washington (standing) eyes his squad at a summer basketball scrimmage Tuesday night at Gideon High School.

Dunklin County native Ty’re Washington was unsure what career he wanted to pursue when he graduated from Southland High School in Cardwell, Missouri, in 2006.

“When I graduated high school I was like a lot of others and didn’t know what I wanted to do so I started working in a factory,” Washington said. “One day as I was working it became crystal clear to me that something had to change. That day I decided I’m going to go back to school.”

Washington elected to pursue a degree in physical education at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas, with plans to become a high school basketball coach someday.

“I started doing my homework in the break room and between shifts,” he said. “I just found a way to make it work.”

Washington eventually left the factory and became more involved in basketball before he finished his degree.

“I had to quit the job at the factory because I couldn’t finish my degree and work at the factory at the same time,” he said. “Then I started providing personal training in basketball. That really helped me get my name out there in the basketball world.”

After Washington completed his bachelor's degree he was hired as the assistant high school boys basketball coach at Clarkton for the 2018-19 school year.

“I learned a great deal last year and really enjoyed working with coach Jordan Bidewell,” he said.

Washington recently learned he will receive his first head coaching opportunity. He is slated to serve as the junior high and high school boys basketball coach at Delta C-7 High School in Deering, Missouri, for the 2019-20 school year. He will also teach physical education and one junior high social studies class at Delta C-7.

“This is what I have been working toward for a long time is my own heading coaching job and things finally worked out,” he said.

Washington said he has had the opportunity to work with the high school players at Delta C-7 a couple of times a week for the past month.

One such occasion was when Delta C-7 competed in a three-team scrimmage with conference rivals Clarkton and Gideon Tuesday night. Delta C-7 beat Clarkton 41-32 and suffered a double-digit loss to host Gideon on Tuesday.

“We are getting there,” Washington said. “We are still not where we need to be. The No. 1 thing we are trying to improve is our defense because defense wins championships. If we can learn how to play defense the offense will come.”

Washington believes depth could be a forte at Delta C-7 in coming years.

“I’ve been a part of piecing together teams and played on those teams,” he said. “But right now we don’t have to worry about piecing teams together because we have good numbers in our high school program and in junior high. We should have solid depth for a while.”

Delta C-7 will play a final summer scrimmage against Piggott and host Rector next week in Arkansas before turning its attention to the upcoming school year.

“We are getting to know all of the kids really well,” Washington said. “We are just trying to go out and compete hard every night and have a good time as well."

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