By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
LSUS guard Leondre Washington didn’t plan on being part of something big in the world of basketball
videos. It just turned out that way.
It would be tempting to say that what Washington is involved in is a New York City thing, so you probably wouldn’t understand, but it is actually more of a social media thing.
It’s OK if you haven’t heard of Jelly Fam, a recent movement across the basketball world. But hundreds of thousands know all about it.
Washington is one of the co-founders of Jelly Fam and has about 75,000 followers on his social media account.
“He has kids requesting pictures with him almost everywhere we play,” says LSU coach Kyle Blankenship.
“Jelly” is in reference to putting your own certain style and creativity on finishing a layup. Kind of the dunk contest equivalent for short guys. The idea is that you approach the basket as if you were going to dunk but then transition into something else. You might switch hands or do a finger roll or spin it off the backboard … whatever you choose. “Just add your own flavor to it,” Washington says.
Washington, whose nickname is “Jelly” (big surprise), will take any kind of layup he can get as he and his Pilots teammates begin play in the opening round of the NAIA national tournament Friday in Alexandria. LSUS, the No. 2-seed in the Alexandria Regional, will take on Missouri Baptist at 7:30 p.m. at Rapides Parish Coliseum.
As the leading scorer for the Pilots at 16.6 points per game, Washington obviously knows more ways to score than just fancy layups. But it is a part of his basketball story.
He’s one of a group of New York-area players (Washington is from Englewood, N.J.) who developed Jelly Fam. Isaiah Washington, formerly of the University of Minnesota, and Ja’Quaye James are considered the founders, but they soon brought in other friends such as Washington.
“It’s basically a game with layups and putting your own style to it,” Washington says. “Rather than a dunk contest, it was something for younger kids to do. It just blew up from there.”
There were eight involved when Jelly Fam began to take off about five years ago. Though it may not be as popular as it once was – don’t look for a Jelly Fam contest during NBA All-Star weekend any time soon – the group of founders still have more than a million followers.
“Definitely never thought it would turn out like this,” Washington says. “It’s such a blessing because we didn’t go into it to get popular. It just happened. It was just a bunch of friends playing around.”
It’s been a long road for Washington to get to LSUS. He started his college career at Robert Morris in Pennsylvania, then transferred to McNeese State. When that didn’t work out, he was in search of a place to play. A former McNeese assistant knew Blankenship and put the two in touch with each other.
“I had never heard of LSUS,” Washington says.
But it didn’t take long for Washington to know that it was the right move to make.
“This is something I just wanted to be a part of,” he says. “When I spoke to Coach Blankenship, he made it feel like home. I just love it here. Anytime you can play basketball after high school, it’s a blessing. I just thank God for that. I feel like I’m here for a reason. I was destined to be here. I didn’t know that at first but it feels like it now.”
Washington was named first team All-Red River Athletic Conference and was a third team All-American last year.
After being knocked out in the opening game of the national tournament a year ago, Washington says the Pilots have learned from that experience as they prepare for a run at the title. LSUS, 23-7 overall, has won eight in a row and 15 of the last 16. Though the Pilots have only seven players, five of them average in double figures.
“We are ready,” Washington says. “Last year, I don’t think we knew what we were getting into and kind of got ambushed. Now we are experienced from that. It’s going to help us this year to not get too hyped for the game and start to press.”