By Jarrod Ulrey, Press Pros Magazine for OHSAA.org
Recently retired from a long and successful career in food sanitation, Francella Washington can’t wait to see what lies ahead.
Washington always has been a trailblazer, going back to her days when she was more widely known as “Frani” and enjoyed groundbreaking success in girls basketball and other prep sports at Toledo Woodward—and she expects nothing less as she enters her next stage of life.
“It’s been a really great journey, and I’m not finished yet, thank God,” Washington said. “But it’s been wonderful.”
Washington, who was named to the OHSAA’s 2026 Circle of Champions class, built a legacy of success when girls sports were emerging at the state level.
During the inaugural state girls track and field meet in 1975, Washington ran on the Class AAA state runner-up 880-yard relay as well as the state-champion 880 medley relay as her team tied for fourth.
The OHSAA then added a girls basketball state tournament for the first time for the 1975-76 season, and Washington again starred.
After scoring 27 points to help the Polar Bears edge Struthers 57-56 in a Class AAA state semifinal, she put together another 27-point performance to lead her team to a 63-59 victory over Columbus Watterson in the championship game.
That season, she was the Toledo City League Player of the Year and a first-team all-state honoree.
The 1976 state title run by the Washington-led Woodward team remains the program’s championship and lone state tournament berth.
She also played volleyball for Woodward.
“It’s the best high school in the nation, but I say that because I went there,” Washington said. “I owe a great debt to that school. I had great teammates and an outstanding coach in Susan Sweet.”
The success she enjoyed at the prep level continued when she went to Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes women's basketball team win the Big Ten championship in 1978 and then becoming the school’s first All-American in the sport in 1979.
During the 1978-79 season, Washington averaged 23.7 points—including scoring 711 points, an Ohio State single-season mark that stood until 1995-96. In addition that season, Washington led the Buckeyes in steals and was second on the team in assists and rebounds.
On Dec. 11, 1978, Washington put together a 39-point performance that included making a program single-game record 18 field goals. She ranks 30th all-time in Ohio State history with 1,173 career points.
Debbie Wilson was Ohio State’s head coach and Tara VanDerveer, who went on to lead Stanford to three national titles as a head coach, was one of Wilson’s assistants during Washington’s college days.
Washington, whose mother, Lucinda Washington, also played basketball for Woodward, continues to marvel at the growth of the girls and women’s game in basketball.
“My mother would go absolutely wild that her little daughter Frani Washington is being celebrated,” Washington said. “God gave me the right mother. She played way back when it was just a couple dribbles, but she was my greatest fan and supporter. She didn’t miss a game.
“I’m elated because the little girls that are born today actually can see a mountain of opportunities that we didn’t see back then. The opportunities are greater, the skill level is greater, the coaching is greater. That process is still ongoing.”
Washington went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with a minor in business from the University of Toledo, setting her up for a career in food that took her to out-of-state opportunities in Texas, Virginia and North Carolina, as well as Columbus, Ohio.
She moved back to Toledo after her mother’s passing.
“Before I was retired, I was a quality food safety director,” Washington said. “During my entire career, I was in food manufacturing. It had its place every step of the way. Being an accomplished athlete, I learned how to lead, how to share, how to organize, and compartmentalize when I had to. Attention to detail—that’s me—but I think my greatest asset is I learned to be a part of.”
Washington was inducted into the Toledo City League Hall of Fame in 1995, and in 2010 she was named the 30th all-time most accomplished athlete from the Toledo area by a panel assembled by the Toledo Blade.
She also was named to the Woodward Alumni Hall of Fame in 2011 and the African American Legacy Project’s Sports Legends Hall of Fame in 2023.
Throughout her career, Washington has been a regular volunteer for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club and Youth for Tomorrow.
“I’m still very active with being a fan of basketball today,” Washington said. “I played for Ohio State for two years, and I’ve got to give kudos to Debbie Wilson, who was my head coach, and with Tara VanDerveer. Those two basically steered me every step of the way, so I’m very grateful to them as well.
“Basketball was a passion of mine so I had to find another passion, and that was food. The first job I actually had was as sanitation manager in Lubbock, Texas, then it was quality food safety. I love to cook and I love to eat. Everybody’s got to eat, so I created a passion for that.”
The Circle of Champions honor is simply the latest in a life filled with adventures and success that Washington expects to continue indefinitely.
She considers herself “semi-retired” and continues to work part-time as a consultant—with the hope of more big moments still to come.
“One of the things I believe should happen, and probably will happen, is me teaching kids abot food safety,” Washington said. “There’s nothing like it, and once they learn they can share it as well. I’d like to be a part of that.
“First of all, (being named to the Circle of Champions is) an outstanding opportunity. I smile ear to ear because I know some of the recipients of the past, so I’m grateful knowing I was just a kid from Toledo, Ohio.”