Editing Kermit Washington (section)

==College years==
During the summer between his senior year of high school and his freshman year of college, Washington grew four inches.<ref name="halb261">Halberstam. pg. 261</ref> He began weight training, and ran the steps in his seven-story dormitory building wearing a weighted vest to improve endurance.<ref name="halb261"/> Washington became more extroverted in college, so much so that he later said his life could be separated into two parts—his pre-college life and his life after college.<ref name="halb261"/> He has frequently described his college years as "the happiest time in my life."<ref name="Fn150"/> He began dating his future wife Pat when he was a freshman. They met after she noticed him accidentally scoring four consecutive points for the opposing team in a freshman basketball game. She pursued him even though he often remained silent when she spent time with him.<ref name="halb261"/> A lot of the emergence of Washington's personality is credited to Pat, who encouraged him to be more outgoing and overcome his low self-esteem.<ref name="halb262">Halberstam. pg. 262</ref> Washington spent a lot of his free time practicing in the gym. He played playground basketball in the summer, and was on several Urban League teams.<ref name="halb262"/> He averaged 19.4 points and 22.3 rebounds on his freshman team at American.<ref name="bref">[https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/washike01.html Kermit Washington] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321120420/http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/washike01.html |date=March 21, 2011 }}, basketball-reference.com, accessed October 9, 2010.</ref> Pat helped him with his grades—despite the fact that he had done well his senior year of high school he was still far behind; he did not even know what a paragraph was when he entered college or how to write a report.<ref name="halb263">Halberstam. pg. 263</ref>

He averaged 18.6 points on 46.8 percent shooting and 20.5 rebounds in his first year of varsity basketball.<ref name="bref"/> He still played a somewhat unaggressive or "soft" brand of basketball, and it was hurting his chances of being drafted by a professional team.<ref name="halb264">Halberstam. pg. 264</ref> Between his sophomore and junior years he began lifting weights with Trey Coleman, a former football player from the [[University of Nebraska]] who was studying as an [[undergrad]] at American.<ref name="halb264"/><ref>Feinstein. 137</ref> Coleman encouraged him to be more aggressive on the court, and Washington told him that it was not in his nature. Coleman admonished him, telling him he could not afford to be "cool" on the court given his talent level if he wanted to join the pro ranks.<ref name="halb264"/> Washington was named an academic All-American his junior year. He averaged 21.0 points on 54.4 percent shooting and an [[List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders|NCAA rebounding leader]] 19.8 rebounds in his junior season.<ref name="bref"/><ref name="NCAA">[http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/D1.pdf 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331132350/http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/D1.pdf |date=March 31, 2010 }}, ncaa.org, accessed November 23, 2010.</ref> He was drafted after his junior season by the [[New York Nets]] of the [[American Basketball Association]] (ABA) and offered a four-year contract for $100,000 a year, which astonished him.<ref name="halb264"/><ref>Feinstein. pg. 145</ref> He decided to stay at American with coach Young for his senior season because he felt he owed the school which had given him a chance when he was coming out of a difficult period in high school.<ref name="halb264"/> He was offered an invite to try for the 1972 [[United States men's national basketball team|Olympic basketball team]] after the season, but did not make the squad.<ref>Feinstein. pgs. 147–9</ref>

Washington was one of the best players in the country going into his senior season.<ref name="halb265"/> He marveled at newspaper reports in the ''[[Washington Post]]'' that mentioned "coaches of opposing teams and how they were planning to stop ''Kermit Washington''."<ref name="halb265">Halberstam. pg. 265</ref> He led the nation in rebounding again in his senior season.<ref name="NCAA"/> He was a [[1973 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|second team All-American]], and helped American into the [[National Invitation Tournament]] (NIT). In the last game of his college career, Washington needed to score 39 points to average 20 points and 20 rebounds a game for his career in college. He became extremely nervous before the game and could neither eat nor sleep.<ref name="Fn150">Feinstein. pg. 150</ref><ref name="halb265"/> The game set American University attendance records, and Washington felt light on his feet when he was introduced before the raucous crowd. He managed to score 40 points and in so doing, became just the seventh player to reach the 20/20 mark.<ref name="halb265"/> He was thrown a party, and there was a campus wide celebration after the game.<ref>Feinstein. 152</ref> He graduated with a 3.37 [[Grading in education|GPA]] and a degree in [[sociology]].<ref name="paroxy">Moore, Matt. [http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2010/07/28/words-on-pages-the-punch-by-john-feinstein/ Words on Pages: "The Punch" by John Feinstein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811012739/http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2010/07/28/words-on-pages-the-punch-by-john-feinstein/ |date=August 11, 2010 }}, hardwoodparoxysm.com, accessed October 9, 2010.</ref> Washington was a two-time Academic All-American, who taught courses in social sciences his senior year.<ref name="halb265"/>