CBS Sports named Miami point guard Tru Washington third nationally among the point-of-attack defensive stoppers in the article "Ranking college basketball's best defenders by position: Top shot-blockers, wing-stoppers and shutdown closers" by Isaac Trotter.
Washington transferred to Miami from New Mexico during the 2025 offseason. In two seasons at New Mexico, Washington averaged 1.7 steals per game. Washington tied for 26th nationally in 2024-26 with 71 steals for a career-high average of 2.1 per game. Defense will be prioritized at Miami under new head coach Jai Lucas.
Lucas was the defensive coordinator as an assistant coach at Duke under head coach Jon Scheyer. Washington helped New Mexico finish 18th nationally in 2024-25 forcing 15.06 turnovers per game. Duke was 234th nationally in 2024-25 forcing 11.4 turnovers per game.
Expect Miami to exceed that number with Michigan transfer Tre Donaldson, five-star true freshman Shelton Henderson and Washington on the perimeter and center Ernest Udeh on the interior. At 6'4 and 195 pounds, Washington provides Miami with excellent length on the perimeter.
Who are college basketball's best defenders at each archetype?
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) September 3, 2025
Some guys who didn't make All-Defense last year but popped on tape: Florida's Boogie Fland, Houston's Emanuel Sharp, La Tech's Kaden Cooper, UCLA's Skyy Clark, UConn's Silas Demary Jr. and Arkansas' Billy Richmond. pic.twitter.com/NPWxLUmfhB
"3. Tru Washington, Miami: Washington walks on the floor wanting to take your ball. His anticipation and defensive feel are pretty high-level stuff. Washington has notched a steal percentage north of 4.0 in back-to-back seasons for a takeaway-driven New Mexico defense. Washington transferred to Miami to be Jai Lucas' defensive ace. "Isaac Trotter, CBS Sports
Trotter named Udeh the fourth-best sturdy interior defender and Henderson the fourth-best wing stopper entering the 2025-26 season. With Donaldson and Malik Reneau filling out the starting five, Lucas will expect Miami to ball ferociously defensively every game.
New Mexico was sixth nationally in defensive efficiency after Washington became their primary on-ball defender. Led by Washington, New Mexico finished 29th nationally in steals and also 18th in blocks during the 2024-25 season.
Washington has a career high of five steals in a game that he has recorded five times, including three times during the 2024-25 season. Miami was 232nd nationally in 2024-25 averaging 6.4 steals per game.
Duke was fourth nationally in 2024-25 holding opponents to 38.4 percent from the field, third with the opposition making 43.0 percent of their two-point field goal attempts, 49th nationally with teams shooting 31.1 percent on three-point attempts and 89th, averaging 3.9 blocks per game.
With the personnel Lucas has established on his inaugural roster, Miami has the potential to be very good defensively. Miami was last in the ACC in three key defensive stats in 2024-25 and near the bottom in most others. The Hurricanes should be vastly improved defensively in 2025-26.