THE FLATS – Autumn Washington, a 6-0 guard from Charlotte, N.C., has signed a grant-in-aid to join Georgia Tech women’s basketball, head coach Karen Blair announced Wednesday.
“Autumn Washington is a complete talent who can defend multiple positions, score at all three levels, battle on the boards and create opportunities for others,” Blair said. “I love her focus and competitive spirit. Autumn is humble, yet, fierce and is a great fit for our program. We can not wait for her to get here and we know she will flourish here at Georgia Tech.”
The 2026 Southwestern 7A/8A Conference Player of the Year, she helped lead Ardrey Kell High School to the Final Four of the NCHSAA Playoffs last month after a 23-3 regular season including 15-0 on home court and a 10-0 conference record. Washington was the team’s leading scorer at 19.1 points per game (555 overall) and had the second-most rebounds (241). She proved to be impressive on the defensive end as well, leading Ardrey Kell in steals (84) and blocks (28). She also holds the single-game scoring record in Knights’ program history, set on Dec. 29, 2025 (32).
No stranger to awards, Washington earned First Team All-District honors this past season, Third Team All-District in 2024, 2023 conference tournament MVP, is a two-time Charlotte Observer Player of the Week, the 2025 Winter Classic MVP and a McDonald’s All-American nominee.
She played 80 games in three seasons with the Knights, totaling 1,201 points (15.1 per game), 662 rebounds (8.3), 191 assists, 180 steals and 59 blocks. The guard helped the Knights to a 47-10 record in her last two seasons of action. In her three seasons at Ardrey Kell, the team never finished lower than third in the conference standings.
Washington joins a 2026-27 Georgia Tech women’s basketball team that is returning four of its primary starting five from a season ago, the first under Blair. Tech finished with 10 victories inside McCamish Pavilion en route to a berth in the 2026 WBIT. The Yellow Jackets captured key victories over No. 18 Notre Dame, Clemson, Stanford and Miami last season.