SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Vanderbilt women’s basketball graduate student Sacha Washington was named to the preseason watch list for the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Award, part of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Starting 5 awards, on Thursday afternoon.
It is the second time that Washington has been selected to a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5 preseason watch list in her collegiate career. The 6-2 forward was named to the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year preseason watch list in 2024-25 before ending up redshirting the year due to a medical condition. Washington was one of 20 players named to the 2025-25 Katrina McClain Award preseason watch list.
Now with a clean bill of health, Washington is set to return to the Vanderbilt starting lineup in 2025-26 at the team’s power forward position. She had a spectacular unofficial return to the court this past Monday at the 2025 Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, as Washington posted a double-double in a 104-68 win over Memphis, scoring 22 points and pulling a game-high 11 rebounds.
Washington is the only active SEC player to have over 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks in their career, while she is the active leader in the SEC in rebounds with 720 coming into the 2025-26 campaign. The forward has played in 99 games at Vanderbilt, starting in 72 contests, and is one of four SEC players to score over 1,000 career points, with 1,008.
The Lawrenceville, Georgia, native has collected 22 career double-doubles with the Commodores and was an All-SEC freshman team selection in 2021-22. Washington holds a career scoring average of 10.2 points per game, while she is pulling down 7.3 rebounds per contest. She has scored double-digits in 48 games and has pulled down 10-plus rebounds in a contest 24 times.
Washington is the second Commodore to be named to a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Starting 5 preseason watch list, as Mikayla Blakes was selected to the Ann Meyers-Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award preseason watch list on Tuesday.
The No. 19/21-ranked Vanderbilt women’s basketball team opens the 2025-26 season on Nov. 3, as the Commodores travel to Paris, France, to face California at Oui-Play Paris. Tipoff against the Golden Bears is set for 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
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2026 Katrina McClain Award Candidates*
Essence Cody, Alabama
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor
Toby Fournier, Duke
Meghan Andersen, Fairfield
Allie Kubek, Florida State
Hannah Stuelke, Iowa
Addy Brown, Iowa State
Amiya Joyner, LSU
Mir McLean, Maryland
Khamil Pierre, NC State
Natalie Potts, Nebraska
Latasha Lattimore, Ole Miss
Maggie Doogan, Richmond
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Sunaja Agara, Stanford
Janiah Barker, Tennessee
Sienna Betts, UCLA
Sarah Strong, UConn
Sacha Washington, Vanderbilt
Sa’Myah Smith, Virginia
*Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2025-26 season
