When Saddi Washington took the job as a Michigan assistant in early May, he almost felt like he had a head start.
He and U-M coach John Beilein had spent many hours talking on the road during recruiting, even though Washington was working for Oakland University for 10 years.
“We were able to develop a pretty good rapport with one another,” Washington said recently after a few weeks on the job. “He was always pretty casual around me.”
The biggest issue for Washington was learning how a different coach operated.
His previous boss, Oakland’s Greg Kampe, offers as much leeway to his assistants as any coach in the country.