Sanford native Niki Washington joins Georgetown women’s basketball staff

Sanford has another name going national. Niki Washington, already enshrined in the inaugural Sanford Seminole High School Hall of Fame, was hired by Georgetown University as an assistant coach on the women’s basketball staff, putting a Seminole County native on a Big East sideline with one of the country’s most visible women’s programs.

Georgetown announced the move April 16 and said Washington is entering her 26th year in coaching. The university described her as a veteran known for preparation, an analytical mindset and a strategic approach, qualities that fit a program looking for more than a standard bench presence. Head coach Darnell Haney said he had followed Washington’s work for years and valued her initiative, attention to detail and track record with championship-level programs.

Washington arrives in Washington, D.C., after four seasons at George Mason University, where she served as associate head coach and director of analytics. During that span, the Patriots completed one of the most dramatic turnarounds in their women’s basketball history. In 2024-25, George Mason went 27-6 overall and 14-4 in Atlantic 10 play, won its first Atlantic 10 Tournament title and earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The surge also showed up in the stands, with 3,354 fans packed into a home game on Jan. 2, 2025, the program’s largest crowd for a women’s basketball game.

Before Fairfax, Washington helped Bethune-Cookman break through on a different stage. The Wildcats won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament title on March 16, 2019, beating Norfolk State 57-45 to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Bethune-Cookman then met Notre Dame in the opening round. Washington’s career also includes a professional stop in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she won the Danish Cup and earned club MVP honors before moving into coaching.

For Sanford, the hire lands as a hometown milestone. Washington’s path runs through local recognition, national competition and the kind of behind-the-scenes work that can reshape a program. Georgetown is not just adding experience; it is bringing in a coach whose resume includes tournament breakthroughs, analytics work and a Sanford foundation that now reaches into one of college basketball’s biggest arenas.