KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are plenty of people who go to college for six years. They're called doctors — or named Warren Washington.

Entering the world of college basketball in 2018, Washington has been around long enough to see the sport flipped on its head. Realignment, name, image and likeness and the birth of the transfer portal have all transpired since Washington joined Oregon State out of high school.

"It's crazy," Washington recalled at Big 12 media days, "because I used to be the freshman and I used to call everybody 'old man' and 'OG' and all that stuff. Now I'm getting called old man and OG, so it's kind of funny."

Through Washington's path to the Texas Tech basketball team this summer, he made plenty of friends, growing relationships with teammates at each stop.

A bond formed in one year at Arizona State was strong enough to help convince a teammate to follow him to Lubbock.

"I was already thinking about coming here," Devan Cambridge said, "but he made it 10 times easier, just being able to ask him questions because he was here before me. Just being able to ask him how the team was, making sure everything they said was genuine, things like that. It was easier just to see if they was being real."

Brotherly connection

At first, Cambridge only knew Washington as his older brother's teammate. Washington's second collegiate stop was with Nevada. There, he paired with Cambridge's older brother, Desmond.

Cambridge, a native of Nashville, was on the other side of the country playing for Auburn. At the end of the 2021-22 season, Washington and Desmond were part of a mass exodus from Nevada. Devan wanted something new as well. He took a recommendation from a high school teammate to join him at ASU.

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Washington, a 7-foot center, followed suit a few weeks later and they joined forces to bring Desmond with them.

"When we got to the same school," Cambridge said, "we definitely hung out, got closer. We definitely impacted each other leaving and coming to (Texas Tech)."

After a run to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Cambridge hit the transfer portal again while Washington declared for the NBA Draft but kept his transfer options open.

Washington committed to Tech in May and became a mole for information. Cambridge said he needed structure and stability. "Internal things" was how Cambridge described his decision to leave ASU. He sought something real and sustainable for his final college season.

"In college there's a lot of stuff that's kind of gassed up in the recruiting world," Washington said, "because every coach is trying to get the best recruits, so they're gonna say whatever you got to say to get it done. I was just giving him a real answer with all the questions he was asking."

Cambridge heard enough, deciding to join Washington in June.

New opportunities

Though they've only known each other a little more than a year, Cambridge and Washington have developed a bond players seek out.

"I just feel like our relationship's really good," Washington said, "because of how transparent we are, how real we are. We're OK with hearing criticism, like you really can say anything. He could say anything to me, and I can say anything to him, and I just feel like that's what makes our friendship real."

Genuine connections are hard to find, not just in the basketball world. The pair found one in each other, and will soon have matching Teslas to show for it — though they will be different colors.

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Not only are they tasked with being leaders on and off the court for the Red Raiders, they've earned Grant McCasland's trust to put them as faces of the program — along with Joe Toussaint — for his first media days.

Washington won't say which of the Cambridge brothers is better. They're both different players, he said — to which Cambridge interjected that he's a winner. Together for one last run, they're looking to replicate their connection with the rest of their teammates.

"If it's one thing I learned throughout my college career," Washington said, "it's chemistry is everything. It beats talent. Having a guy I've already played with before on the team, it's just gonna make us that much better."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Washington, Cambridge bring pre-existing bond to Texas Tech basketball