Lynn University

Niki Washington became the sixth head women’s basketballcoach in Lynn history on March 31, 2009.  In a short time shehas cemented herself as one of the more successful coaches inprogram history by claiming several program firsts: winning thefirst Sunshine State Conference Tournament game and first SSCTournament title, claiming the first SSC regular season title,earning the first NCAA Tournament bid and earning the first NCAATournament at-large bid

During her time patrolling the sidelines for the Blue &White she has posted a 72-67 (.518) career record and 36-44 (.450)mark in SSC play.  During the 2013-14 season, Washingtonbecame the program’s all-time leader in victories while her36 league wins is also a school record.

Washington’s influence is spread throughout the recordbooks.  Under her guidance, three players have went on toreach 1,000 points in their careers; two players set records forthree-point shooting in a season and career and several athletesare within the top-10 all-time at LU for numerous offensive anddefensive categories.

One of Washington’s top individual triumphs was thedevelopment of Kira Harvey into one of the top players in theSSC.  Guiding her for all four years of her career, Harvey isthe only player in program history to be a three-time All-Americaselection while also being named SSC Player of the Year, DefensivePlayer of the Year and Freshman of the Year.  Additionally,Harvey is the first student-athlete in SSC history to win Playerand Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.

With Lynn, she has helped her players accumulate threeAll-America honors, six All-SSC accolades, two all-south regionawards, a South Region Player of the Year honor and a SSCTournament Most Outstanding Player recognition.  She is alsothe only coach in program history to have defeated every school inthe Sunshine State Conference.

Having already taken one team to the NCAA Tournament and won aleague title, Washington was forced to silence critics in 2012-13after being picked to finish seventh in the SSC.  Under herleadership, the Fighting Knights posted an 18-10 overall mark and aprogram-best 11-5 record in the SSC to stake a claim as the regularseason co-champions and earn the second NCAA Tournament bid in fourseasons.  On top of that, Lynn swept the regular season-serieswith Rollins for the first time.

The magical 2009-10 squad became the first to defeat two top-25teams while garnering votes in the Women’s Basketball CoachesAssociation Top-25 poll for the second time ever.  WithWashington at the helm, LU shocked the SSC by becoming just thesecond No. 5 seed to win the conference tournament.  Lynnhadn’t won a tournament game in its history but won atFlorida Southern before toppling No. 1 seed Tampa and third-seededBarry in the finals. 

Prior to arriving in Boca Raton, Washington served as theassistant coach at Florida A&M for six seasons.  Duringher time in Tallahassee, Fla., the Lady Rattlers had fiveAll-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selections while Washingtonhelped oversee the development of one MEAC Rookie of the Year andone MEAC Player of the Year.

A 1999 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale,she holds a B.S. degree in Speech Communications and InterpersonalCommunications.

Born in Sanford, Fla., Washington was a prep phenom at SeminoleHigh School, becoming a highly-sought after player. She was namedthe Gatorade Florida High School Player of the Year in 1993 andearned high school All-America notices from Street and SmithMagazine as well as from Converse.

She signed with the University of Houston in 1993, where she waspart of a recruiting class that ranked fourth in the nation.However injuries her freshman year at Houston prompted a move backhome, where she enrolled at Seminole Community College.

At SCC, Washington blossomed into a top performer on the court,earning a spot on the 1995 NJCAA Mid-Florida Conference All-Starteam. After graduating from SCC, she moved on to Southern Illinoisto play for coaching pioneer Cindy Scott, finishing second in theMissouri Valley Conference in her first season. 

Following her time at SIU, Washington again returned home toSanford where she served as an assistant coach at SeminoleCommunity College from 1999-2002.  During her time with theRaiders, they captured two Mid-Florida Conference Championships andadvanced to regional play in 2001-02 while collecting numerousall-conference accolades, two Mid-Florida Conference Player of theYear selections, five National Junior College Athletic AssociationAll-State/Region players and one Kodak/WBCA NJCAA All-American.

Washington's playing experience didn't end at SIU. In 1999-2000,she was a member of the NWBL Florida Fury, which led to aninvitation to the Detroit Shock training camp in 2000.  Shedid sign a professional contract in 2000 with Herlev-BMS inCopenhagen, Denmark. Washington had an outstanding season, earningthe 2001 women's club MVP award, while helping the team win theDanish Cup National title.