In her final year, Keishana Washington and Drexel have one motto: ‘Eat. Sleep. Build. Repeat.’

Drexel guard Keishana Washington was named the preseason player of the year in the Colonial Athletic Association, which is unsurprising given her track record.

She was the 2020-21 CAA Tournament MVP, was 2021-22 all-CAA first team, and was last year’s CAA scholar-athlete of the year.

Now, she’s back for her fifth and final season.

Her stats are impressive. Coming off two straight CAA championships, the team will be looking to Washington to help guide it toward a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Drexel opened the season Thursday at home against against Rider. Dragons head coach Amy Mallon weighed in on how Washington inspires her teammates on and off the court.

“Keishana represents the type of success we have achieved,” Mallon said. “She is a very talented player, and that goes with her work ethic. I’ve seen her grow from someone who didn’t always have the courage to take those big shots to where now, in those big moments, she wants the ball in her hands.”

Alongside inspiration, Washington’s leadership has led not just to her growth but the success of Drexel’s program.

“She will put the team on her shoulders and really carry them when we need her to,” Mallon said. “It’s been a joy to see her grow, and now the next step in her fifth year is the leadership aspect — not only [is she] doing these things, but now [her] teammates are believing they can do them too.”

Washington feels the same way about her leadership qualities and her ability to take the team to the next level.

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“I am proud of myself, personally,” she said. “Coming in as a freshman, I was really quiet and didn’t talk very much, but now, as a fifth-year and captain on the team, I have done a complete 360 with the way I lead the team and keep them motivated.

“Our team is new. We have a lot of new faces and a lot of inexperience, so just I know that by being a more experienced player, I can guide them and lead them to do the things that I know we are capable of doing to be a championship-contending team.”

The Dragons were voted No. 1 in CAA preseason polls. What does that mean for Washington and her team?

“Everyone recognizes that it is an honor for other coaches in the CAA to have picked us No. 1,” Washington said. “With that comes a lot of pressure because you’re picked No. 1 for a reason, so you have to play to that standard. We’ve been in the top three since I’ve been here, and I know what it takes to stay at the top and so does this team.”

She won’t discuss it, but Washington has opportunities to take her basketball skills beyond college. Mallon thinks Washington has what it takes to make it further.

“For any player that works as hard as they do and has such a passion for the game, the question is always ‘What is the next step?’” Mallon said. “If she wants to, she would have the opportunity to play beyond Drexel, be it WNBA or playing overseas. I believe she will have opportunities. She is more than capable.”

Each year, Mallon creates a theme designed to motivate her team. Compound the new challenge of being the team everyone in the CAA wants to beat, and this year’s theme is to focus on becoming better every day.

“Eat, sleep, build, repeat. That’s our theme this year,” Mallon said. “We have a foundation that has been set by so many former players in our culture, and now we have to build on it. Keishana is the point person for that, along with Maura Hendrixson, who is also a fifth-year returner. They both lead the team. I always tell my players, ‘If you care more about the person next to you and how they are doing, and what you can do to make them better, we are going to be pretty successful.’”

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