Straight away, the new Tornadoes coach won’t back away from talk of championships. 

Not one, but multiple. 

A dynasty perhaps.

That’s not about ego, but the mission the 28-year-old is emboldened by over the limitless possibilities ahead.

“I really feel like we can achieve big things,” he says.

“Our whole goal is to win a championship this year. We’ve got the talent to do it.”

But talent is one thing, basketball smarts is another.

That’s what Washington thinks is lacking pre-season.

He should know, mixing it with the likes of WNBA clubs Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx, NBA journeyman Anthony Tolliver and NBA coach Stan van Gundy.

“To be quite honest, I’d say the basketball culture in Tasmania has a lot of work to do – put it like that,” he says.

“I’ve come from a higher level, obviously, with the WNBA coaching and working with NBA clients.

“But it doesn’t seem like they’ve had anybody come here to Tasmania to teach them the game, skill-wise.

“Basketball Tasmania, I think, does a great job running their programs, but I believe all the players need to be more versatile.

“That’s just what I have noticed in my one and a half months in the state. I’ve still got a lot to learn about what the players are used to.

“They do a great job around here, but just from my perspective that every player on every level, even the players on my Tornadoes team have got to learn to play better basketball.”

The blunt assessment is not a criticism of the Torns, but Washington goes further. 

Without a slight hint of hesitation, he blurts out two words: basketball IQ.

“The basketball IQ here is low – it needs to improve for sure,” Washington says, “but that’s why I am here to improve all that.”

He points to guard Emma Haywood as one with a high ceiling from the floor.

The 23-year-old averaged 3.0 points a game coming off the bench towards 4.5 points in a 94-game SEABL career. 

The American feels the improvement is not going to come from the same names but from the Haywoods. 

“Emma’s a good player, but she can take her game to another level to see where she can go,” he says.

“That just comes from playing and being around good basketball people.

“I don’t know how many basketball people have come to Tasmania – I admit, personally, I didn’t know this place even existed.

“I am just being real, coming here and giving out my knowledge to everyone. It’s what I love to do.

“If I can give knowledge to every player in some way, shape or form, to every coach what I know, that is my goal to teach the game.

“Obviously, I want to win a championship, obviously I want to be successful, but my whole purpose of signing was to develop players and coaches to all possibilities.”

Washington wants to turn Ellie Collins from a work in progress into more of a fearless forward for opposition defences; to smooth out the rough edges on Jayde Brazendale’s growing game; to ensure that Aishah Anis and Sophie Ackerley are not just spectators watching from the bench.

But the competitive juices drip when the renowned development coach takes ownership of “my team”.

He patiently waits as the days count down to the first tip-off on Saturday night, but the return of captain Lauren Mansfield and US import Mikaela Ruef from Europe will have to wait at least two weeks.

The pair are best friends off the court and will reunite later this month for the first time since they had an on-court collision as rivals in the dying moments of last season’s Launceston and Hobart knockout final.

The very mention of their names stirs up Washington to briefly talk titles again.

“I really believe we are going to win the championship this year once we get Lauren Mansfield and Mikaela Ruef back,” Washington said.

“We’ve got our import signings Ally Wilson and Lauren Nicholson as our first two key players. But our locals are working really hard – Ellie Collins, Jayde Brazendale, I expect big things of too.

“So it’s going to be a really good year – it’ll be a more fun style of basketball, better than what they had last year, where all the players will be able to get involved.”

Washington is catching on fast about Tornadoes values. 

That was what got him over the line for the job. He’s now loving the sense of community about the place.

“So this is my first head coaching job, running everything,” Washington says. “Each week that goes by, I am learning as a coach.

“The Tornadoes are doing a great job of taking care of me, making sure I feel comfortable but letting me do my job, which is good.”

That was a virtue that Tornadoes chair Janie Finlay insists is the lifeline of the club entering its 25^th women’s season this year.

She talks the Torns in terms of a basketball home rather than just a stopover.

“It’s true and important to be clear that Ally Wilson and Mikaela Ruef always saw themselves ongoing as part of the club,” Finlay says.

“It’s a bit of a cliche, but once a Torn, always a Torn.”

The winter return of Wilson from her Adelaide family and Ruef from Hobart via an LA Sparks trial leaves the pair two years wiser.

“It is a coup but it’s also a comfort to know that what we believe and what we understand is that we provide something pretty special that people engage with that they love the game and they love us,” Finlay says.

“The relationship between the player and the club speaks really deeply to what we’ll do together and as much as that championship is what we’re after.

“Ally and Mikaela would have loved to play with the Tornadoes as much even if they played in an empty stadium, but they play in a full stadium and a town that has always got their back.”