Wildcats freshman Turner Washington is taking his talents to Tempe.
You could make a case that discus thrower Turner Washington, who shattered state records at Canyon del Oro High School and became a national champion in 2017, was among the 10 leading athletes on Arizona’s campus.
But that all changed just as school began in August. Washington transferred to Arizona State.
“It’s very disappointing but I love the young man,” UA track coach Fred Harvey said. “I hope it works out for him.”
Washington finished fourth in the Pac-12 discus finals as a freshman last spring and seemed on track for a legitimate shot at the Olympic games of 2020 or 2024. At ASU, he will be paired with coach Brian Blutreich, a former discus standout who was part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team with Washington’s father, Anthony, himself a three-time Olympic discus thrower.
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This move from UA to ASU isn’t unprecedented at the highest level. In 1977, Arizona sprinter Dwayne Evans, who won a bronze medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, transferred to ASU and competed three years for his hometown Sun Devils.
At ASU, Evans was reunited with his high school coach, Bruce Frankie, who had been hired by the Sun Devils. How’d it work out? Evans did not make another Olympic team, nor did he win a Pac-10 championship.
