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Ex-Ship to drop anchor in Japan
Published October 21, 2009
FREEPORT — Brandon Wash says he was born to play basketball, and now he is set to begin his professional career with the Chiba Pierce Arrow Badgers in Japan.
Wash, a former Brazosport Exporter, after high school played with Kilgore Junior College then finished up his collegiate eligibility with Dallas Baptist University.
“I signed with them about a week and a half ago and will head out at the end of this month,” Wash said. “They are about 10 minutes from Tokyo, and in those Asian countries they have some pretty good players.”
Wash will earn anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 a month while playing for the Badgers, whose season begins in early November and ends around March.
“I just graduated from Dallas Baptist and this is my first time out, but I am always in the gym working hard,” Wash said. “I’m trying to progress and be successful in this business. They are going to be playing me as a small forward or a shooting guard.”
The 6-foot-6 Wash averaged 13 points at Dallas Baptist with the Patriots in two seasons. At Kilgore, Wash mostly came off the bench, but rarely saw the floor.
“There aren’t too many black African-Americans there playing basketball, so maybe some way I can bridge a gap,” Wash said. “I will be the only American on the team, but many of those players speak English. The one thing I was asked is if I liked sushi, and my response was that I love sushi.”
After finishing his playing days with the Exporters, where he averaged 20 points a game in his junior and senior seasons, Wash couldn’t hook on to a Division I program, so he decided to take the long route.
“I had to go through the back window because the front door wasn’t open to me,” Wash said. “But it is all good because of the pushing and grinding to get to a certain point. I am just starting and am hoping to have a good 10-plus years in this profession.”
The Chiba Pierce Arrow Badgers were the 2006 and 2007 champions of their league, and Wash is hoping to help them get back to that threshold.
“I have a mid-range game, inside-out, can step up and shoot the three, dribble extremely well,” the 23-year-old said. “I am in the gym because I am a gym rat. They have some pretty good size Asians over there.
“I will be playing against top division teams, and in January there is a tournament that is the biggest one over there. I will be able to showcase my talent in front of all of Japan in that tournament.
“I’m set up pretty good over there, and it is just going to depend on my numbers and we will see about a contract,” he said. “But this is just one opportunity because there are European leagues as well, and let’s see who wants a 6-foot-6 shooting guard?”
Wash also had a couple of other options, beside Japan, and one of those was to head to Iran to play professionally.
“It is too hostile over there,” Wash said. “This is an experience that I want to live. If not, I did graduate with a bachelor’s in business administration. I do have a Plan A and plan B, but I am hoping Plan A is the main course.”
Joel Luna is the sports editor for The Facts. Contact him at 979-237-0160.
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