Newly hired Florida A&M men’s basketball coach Charlie Ward and his staff are recruiting with the big dogs for his inaugural Rattlers team.
On Monday, July 21, the No. 1 ranked Tennessee basketball prospect Christopher Washington Jr. named the Rattlers in his top seven possible landing spots. Power Five basketball programs Alabama, Auburn, Cincinnati, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Villanova rounded out the rising senior’s college destination list.
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“I want to go somewhere that feels like a family,” Washington told On3’s Jamie Shaw. “So, I’m going to be looking at that. And I want to play early, so I want to go somewhere I’ll play right away. How they play will be big for me. I like playing fast and playing on the wing. Location won’t matter to me as long as it feels like family there.”
Washington, who plays for Providence Christian Academy in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports. The 6-foot-7, 175-pound forward is the 13th best small forward and 31st in overall player rankings in the nation.
Providence Christian’s Chris Washington (33) drives to the basket as Goodpasture Christian’s King Keary (2) guards him during a Division II-A semifinal game between Providence Christian Academy and Goodpasture Christian Academy at Tennessee Tech University’s Hooper Ebler Center in Cookeville, Tenn., on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
A Gainesville native, Washington previously played basketball at The Villages Charter School before moving out of his home state of Florida to Tennessee and transferring to Providence in his junior year last season.
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The 2025 season saw Washington help Providence win its first-ever TSSAA Division II-A boys basketball state championship with a 78-68 win over Battle Ground Academy this March. Washington scored 17 points in the title game and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
In June, Washington participated in the NBPA Top 100 Camp, a premier event that includes mentoring from current and former NBA players for elite high school basketball players.
FAMU men’s basketball is preparing for its first season under former Ward, the 1993 Heisman winner as Florida State’s quarterback and NBA veteran (1994-1995), primarily with the New York Knicks.
The first-year head coach has recruited a new-look roster and hired Eugene Granger, Sebastian Aguilar, Jarrod Lazarus, and Rob Lewis as assistants before the season begins this winter.
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Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU basketball: Chris Washington considering Charlie Ward’s Rattlers
