Julian Washington picks Dayton Flyers over Florida Atlantic, Northern Iowa

The adjective that best describes Julian Washington, according to one of his high school coaches, is the same word that describes many of the current Dayton Flyers basketball players: versatile.

“A lot of kids, especially at 16 or 17 years old, can do one or two things at the highest level,” said Jake Meisler, an assistant coach at Margaretta High School. “Julian’s kind of a Swiss Army knife. He can shoot the ball at a very high clip from the perimeter. He is athletic and a great driver. Defensively, he has improved a lot over the last 12 months, too. He’s a legit 6-foot-4½, pushing 6-5, and his body’s only going to continue to grow.”

Washington announced his commitment to Dayton on Friday. He’s the first member of the 2026 recruiting class to pick the Flyers.

Washington announced his decision after the first quarter of a football game between Margaretta High School in Castalia, which is near Sandusky, and Gibsonburg. There was a table set up on the track behind the Margaretta bench. He sat in the middle with his parents at his side and Margaretta fans in the stands in front of him.

Washington thanked God, his parents and the community before breaking his news.

“I’ve just got two words: Stay home,” Washington said. “The University of Dayton.”

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Washington received a scholarship offer from Dayton in July and visited campus in September. Dayton assistant coach Jermaine Henderson, a Miami University graduate who handles most in-state recruiting, was the lead recruiter for Dayton.

“The guys were amazing when I was there on my official (visit),” Washington told the Sandusky Register. “I’ve been to state championships, so I’ve seen the arena. It’s a great place. It’s sold out every year. That definitely played a big part. I want to be part of something great.”

Washington averaged 21.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game as a junior. He made the All-Ohio Division V first team.

Washington played right away as a freshman, Meisler said, and started as a sophomore and junior. The team won 24 games in each of the last two seasons and back-to-back district championships. It hopes for an even longer tournament run in 2026.

“We return about 80 to 85% of our big-minute guys from last year,” Meisler said. “All those guys have two years of regional experience now. It’s now or never.”

Washington picked Dayton over a final three that included Florida Atlantic and Northern Iowa. Earlier, in July, he had a top 10 that included those three schools plus Butler, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, Toledo, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and Xavier. He earned his first offer in March 2024 after his sophomore season from Jeff Boals and the Ohio Bobcats.

“At one time, there were about 40 to 45 schools recruiting him,” Meisler said, “and he probably had offers from about 30 of those schools — a dozen high-major schools. It was a lot thrown at a kid that age. He narrowed it down to 10 pretty quickly.“

Washington wanted to make a decision before preseason practices begin Oct. 31.

“He’s a big fit guy, a big culture guy, a big chemistry guy,” Meisler said, “so I don’t think he was wowed by the high-major schools, so to speak. He really kind of dialed in on some of the staff and got close with these last three schools and took official visits to all three.”

Washington might have made his decision earlier, but Meisler wanted him to honor his commitments and visit Florida Atlantic and Northern Iowa after his Dayton visit.

“Julian’s the type of kid that will go on a visit and come back and say, ‘That’s where I want to go 10 straight times,’” Meisler said. “I told him, ‘Hey, you need to go home, sleep on this and take the next few days. I think he knew where he wanted to be. He said the night before he committed he was kind of laying in bed and it hit him. He felt like (Dayton) was where he wanted to be.”

Washington is the second Ohio recruit to pick Dayton in the last two years. Damon Friery, of Cleveland St. Ignatius, is a freshman on the 2025-26 team. Dayton has signed two other Ohio recruits during Grant’s nine seasons: Dwayne Cohill (Cleveland, class of 2018) and Lukas Frazier (Painesville, 2021).

Dayton has not signed a player from northwest Ohio in Grant’s tenure, though the program has strong ties to Toledo with Brian Roberts, Dayton’s fourth all-time leading scorer, and Don Donoher, Dayton’s winningest coach, both coming from the Glass City.

Meisler knows Dayton, head coach Anthony Grant and the staff well, while Washington learned about Dayton during the recruiting process.

“He just said tonight to all of our fans, Dayton feels like Margaretta to an extent,” Meisler said.

Dayton announced Thursday it had sold out its fifth straight season. Its sellout streak will reach 94 games in March.

“We’re playing in front of sellouts, too,” Meisler said. “I think community and all that is important to him, and that was certainly a factor in his decision.”