Washington in the All-British Team of Year

LEICESTER Riders point guard Conner Washington has been selected in the Molten BBL All-British Team of the Year.

Joining Washington in the top five selected by BBL coaches are Ashley Hamilton of Plymouth Raiders, Justin Robinson of London Lions, Jordan Williams of Worcester Wolves and David Ulph of Manchester Giants.

Returning to Leicester for an eighth campaign after a season in Hungary and Germany, GB international guard Washington was a BBL Championship winner for the fourth time in his career.

Consistently one of the best shooters in the BBL, Washington was seventh in total three-pointers made (53 makes at 38 per cent), and sixth in both two-point percentage (60.6 per cent) and free-throw percentage (87.0 per cent), while averaging 10 points and four assists per game for the season.

Washington received eight votes and this is his fourth appearance in the All-British team – but his first since 2016-17 – which is a mark only bettered by former Riders and GB captain Drew Sullivan (seven appearances) and Kieron Achara (five).

Over the course of his Riders career, Washington has won everything there is to win in the British game, with ten pieces of silverware.

His play earlier in the season earned him a spot on the GB roster for the third time in November, after representing his country at under-20s level previously.

Washington played in all 30 games in the BBL Championship this season, playing over 26 minutes per game, the third highest for the Riders.

He was particularly pivotal when Geno Crandall went down with an injury during a crucial run of games in March.

Washington stepped up to play 39 minutes in each of those three contests, averaging 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds, as Leicester won two of those to keep their title charge on course.

His highlight game this season came at the Bristol Flyers in late March, when he finished with the joint highest offensive efficiency of his career.

His 22 points against the Flyers was the third best points total in his career, his nine rebounds were the second best in his career, and he made a career high nine field goals, while his 7 assists were the ninth highest in his career.

Washington also made four threepointers from eight attempts, and shot a stunning 69 per cent from the floor in Riders’ 76-62 victory.