Former Compton College Coach, AD Inducted into Hall of Fame

Dr. Rudy Washington has racked up 44 years in athletic profession.

It all started in 1977 when he was selected the head basketball coach at Verbum Dei High School. Washington spent the next 40-plus years working as a coach at various levels, including a one-year stint in the NBA, and as the executive director of the Black Coaches Association and then a four-year conference commissioner.
In all, Washington made stops at the University of Southern California (assistant coach, 1978-82); Los Angeles Lakes (1982), Compton College (head basketball coach and AD, 1983-84), Clemson University (assistant coach, 1985); University of Iowa (assistant coach, 1985-90); Drake University (head coach, 1990-96); Compton College (AD, 1997-99).

The founder of the Black Coaches Association, Washington served as the executive director from 1989 until 2007 while also overseeing the Southwestern Athletic Conference. When he was selected the SWAC commissioner, he became just third individual to hold the title of commissioner of the SWAC when he was named to the post on May 21, 1998. He guided the SWAC towards several new and exciting accomplishments, including relocating the league's headquarters from New Orleans, LA, where it been for 15-years, to the city of Birmingham, AL. He also developed the conference's first television network for football and basketball, creation of the first-and-only championship game for football on the NCAA Division I-AA level and formation of a Computer Academy at the league headquarters, where youths and other individuals from the local community can receive hands-on computer training.

Washington, a graduate of University of Redlands and a native of Los Angeles, was named by Black Enterprise magazine as one of Thirty Most Valuable Professionals in the Business of Sports. In the 1996 issue of The Sporting News, he was only one of two coaches in all of sports listed among the magazine's prestigious 100 Most Powerful People in Sports.

Washington has been active in both athletics and community affairs. He served as a board member of the NCAA's Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Basketball Issues. For more than 20 years, he's been a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and, for seven years, a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Washington, who once served as director of Guide Right, a youth mentoring program sponsored by Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, is a member of the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles.

Over the last decade, his career includes several professional contributions to the educational community. Washington had an impressive academic insight, his doctoral research focused upon the caring behaviors of under-represented youths under the age of 19. Washington has shown a professional example of excellence, his resume includes educational consulting and curriculum development, working within difficult and culturally diverse environments, demonstrated leadership roles, mentoring experience, supervisory experience, and administrative support in academic settings.

Washington called his inclusion into the CCCMBCA Hall of Fame as a true honor.

“WOW! What an honor,” he said. “I was blessed to have had the opportunity to coach and teach young men at so many different levels. I want to thank the California Community College Coaches Association for this very special award.”