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Here’s a typical day for one of the best college basketball players in the nation, Drexel’s Keishana Washington

In this, her fifth and final season at Drexel, Washington has become one of the nation’s best scorers, averaging 27 points per game, leading the Dragons with a goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament

Drexel guard Keishana Washington is one of the top three women's basketball scorers in the nation. How? The graduate guard gave the Inquirer a look inside on a typical game day.
Drexel guard Keishana Washington is one of the top three women's basketball scorers in the nation. How? The graduate guard gave the Inquirer a look inside on a typical game day.Read moreMonica Herndon

Every basketball player has some sort of pregame ritual, whether it’s making a certain number of shots in warmups or wearing specific socks.

But for Drexel’s Keishana Washington, her game day routine doesn’t actually start on game day.

In this, her fifth and final season at Drexel, Washington has become one of the nation’s best scorers. She’s averaging 27 points and has spent the season near the top of the scoring leaderboards with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist.

Now, the Pickering, Ontario, native is trying to lead the Dragons back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in her career. Drexel begins its Colonial Athletic Association tournament run at 5 p.m. Friday, but Washington likes to get a head start on game day prep.

The day before she plays at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, the 5-foot, 7-inch guard walks over to Chipotle by 34th and Lancaster avenues.

What’s on the menu?

“I get a bowl, brown rice, chicken, sour cream, corn, and cheese,” she said.

No mobile order. “I like to go in,” she said.

But what does Washington do on actual game days, hours before she’s terrorizing defenses?

Pregame routine

Well, it all starts between 11-11:30 a.m., when she arrives at the DAC for a 6 p.m. tip. Yes, seven hours before.

Shootaround doesn’t start until 1 p.m., but she arrives early for treatment. She goes to shootaround until 2 p.m., and then it’s time for a team meal.

“I might grab another snack after [the] team meal,” she said. “About 30 minutes after, just to fuel a little more. Grab a protein shake.”

After her snack, Washington lays down on the couch in the locker room. She prefers lights to be off but is cool with them staying on while teammate Chloe Hodges does Hetta Saatman’s hair. Lights off afterward, though.

» READ MORE: Sign up now for The Inquirer's college hoops challenge, Bracket Jawn, for your chance to win $1,000!

Washington will lay on the couch for about an hour, headphones on. She’ll scroll through Instagram and TikTok, videos about sneakers, controversy, hair, dancing, or whatever else pops up on her For You page. She’ll also play some Candy Crush, where she got past Level 300 in just two weeks.

Then, Washington heads to the training room to get taped. Since her freshman year, she’s been the first one in the training room before games, and four years later, that hasn’t changed.

“Always have to be first [at] the same table every time,” she said.

After getting taped, Washington returns to the locker room for another pregame snack.

“It’s usually a sandwich,” she said. “Turkey, cheese, mustard.”

Then it’s time for warmups, which start 1 hour, 15 minutes before the game. While all of her teammates exit the locker room, Washington makes sure she’s the last one to leave.

She’ll put her phone in the bin where phones go before game time and then talk to head coach Amy Mallon and associate head coach Stacy Weiss about whether there’s anything they want her to incorporate into the warmup.

After that, it’s strictly basketball. And, well, Washington is pretty good at the whole basketball thing.

» READ MORE: Keishana Washington named a finalist for Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year, Drysdale Award

Despite not considering herself a scorer coming into Drexel, Washington has three 40-point outings this season, just broke the Dragons’ single-season scoring record, and has 783 points and counting. She’s currently second on Drexel’s all-time scoring list with 2,288, trailing only Gabriela Mărginean (2,581).

Washington recently was named the CAA Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year and the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which is given to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Once her college career ends, Washington could play professionally, in the WNBA or elsewhere.

While the pregame routines certainly can’t hurt her production, they’re far from what makes it.

“She works so hard at everything she does,” said Weiss, who has known Washington since she was 16 and was her main point of contact while Drexel was recruiting her. “She’s really a student of the game. … She’s just relentless. She doesn’t stop. She wants to keep learning. She wants to keep working.”

When Washington first got to Drexel, she arrived later than most because she was playing youth ball with Team Canada. While at a Drexel team barbecue, one of the parents turned to Weiss with a question.

“‘Wow, are players coming in like that?’ And he just meant like she was so physically fit,” Weiss said. “She’s a petite woman, but she has these huge muscles on her. It was pretty impressive. Like she was dedicated to the sport from the time she stepped foot on campus.”

Postgame routine

When the game ends, Washington returns to the locker room. But sometimes, that’s short-lived. People will wait for her after games, trying to snag a picture or autograph.

“One time a lady came and had her maybe a year-old daughter in her hand, and put the baby in my arms to take a picture,” Washington said.

Usually, it’s a herd of kids trying to meet one of the greatest basketball players in City 6 history.

» READ MORE: The link between Keishana Washington and Maddy Siegrist's scoring prowess

“Those are cool moments,” Washington said. “I love hanging out with kids. … I think it’s special that I’m able to impact younger people like that.”

After that, it’s generally a pretty quiet night for Washington. She’ll check her phone, respond to some messages, shower, and then head back to her on-campus apartment. Sometimes, if there’s no practice the next day, she’ll spend some more time after the game hanging out.

But for those Friday games that are followed by a Sunday contest, she doesn’t have much time until her pregame routine starts again — with that Saturday trip to Chipotle.