By james art 
CHAPEL HILL NC — A hush fell over the Smith Center when the North Carolina big man Jaylen Washington went down clutching his left knee with 3:28 left in Saturday’s game.
Washington was defending Boston College big man Chad Venning. And as the sturdy, 6-foot-9, 270-pound Venning pulled away in a move, Washington crumpled to the floor in pain. Washington was eventually helped to his feet after being attended to by UNC head athletic trainer Doug Halverson. He hobbled off the court with help and walked down the tunnel to the UNC locker room.
Washington didn’t get back into the game as the Tar Heels avoided the meltdown and survived the Eagles 102-96 in overtime.
After that, he had iced his left knee and was walking under his own power. UNC’s standard practice is not to allow players who are considered injured for postgame interviews. But Washington showed up to meet with reporters here, saying he had just spoken to his father and brother on the phone and informed them he was fine. He described the conversation as quite jovial and that they cracked a few jokes during the conversation.
“Just got caught there a little bit, in a little bit of an awkward position,” Washington said. “I’m fine, I’m perfectly fine. … It definitely caught me off guard at first. Especially after I had surgery on the other knee, I was like, “damn, this is kind of crazy.” Your mind automatically goes to the worst, but everything will get better and be okay.
UNC coach Hubert Davis added, “I didn’t see the play. I was hoping it wasn’t his (right) knee, which it isn’t. And it just scared me, with his injury history and the knee in particular. Because he didn’t get up quickly, that’s the first thing that went through my mind, but I’m thankful it wasn’t and I’m thankful he’s good.”
The 6-foot-10 junior Washington matched his career-best with 18 points off the bench at UNC on Saturday. It was the fourth time he scored in double figures this season and the first time since Washington had 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in the Tar Heels’ blowout win two weeks ago at NC State. He added six rebounds and three assists Saturday against Boston College.
Washington came to UNC in 2022. as a freshman in full recovery mode. When he committed to Carolina in July 2021, he was ranked as a five-star recruit and considered a top-20 prospect nationally. But a right knee injury derailed his high school career and limited the early stages of his time with the Tar Heels.
A botched operation on a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) forced Washington to have two surgeries on the same knee. The second procedure forced Washington to sit out his entire senior season in high school. He didn’t make his college debut at UNC until 10 games into the 2022-23 season.
“At first I was a little nervous to put something on because I wasn’t 100 percent sure what my strength was going to be,” Washington said Saturday, reflecting on the left knee scare he had against BC. “I did a little warm-up and stuff and put my sleeves and compressions on and ran back here trying to finish the game.”
Although he did not return for Saturday’s game, he said he was ready and could re-enter if called upon. Ven-Alan Lubin finished for UNC in Washington’s absence and made a big dunk with 28 seconds left in overtime to cap the scoring.
Washington pointed out that while “a win’s a win,” the Tar Heels will have to step up their game as the competition heats up now with a key win coming on the schedule. Over the next four games, UNC has road assignments at Pittsburgh, Duke and Clemson — all opportunities to secure Quad 1 wins in the NET rankings — with a Feb. 8 home date against Pitt in between.
“We don’t want to continue to be in these positions, the rest of the schedule is not going to be seamless,” Washington said. “So we really have to be dialed in every single detail and just do the things the coaches ask us to do. Follow the game plan and just give 110 percent effort every game.
“That was one of our worst defensive games we’ve had, and we’ll be watching that film (Sunday). I myself will be ashamed of how I played in defense. But I know that we just have to be better for the next games.”