Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times

Denise Washington cheers as the live image of her son flashes on the large screen monitors during player introductions before a game at Cassell Coliseum.

BLACKSBURG -- Tuesday will mark the final regular-season home game of Virginia Tech senior Deron Washington.

Will it also be the final home game for his mother?

"That's the million-dollar question," said Denise Washington, a special-education teacher at Christiansburg Elementary School. "I'm just pretty much torn."

Denise Washington moved from New Orleans to Blacksburg in October 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. She has become a fixture at the Tech men's basketball home games and attends many road games as well.

Her presence in Blacksburg for her son's final three years at Tech has been meaningful to both of them. Washington drops by his mother's apartment at least once a week to visit and watch TV with her, or they will go out to dinner together.

"We've gotten much closer," he said. "Being together is really special. ... It's been a fun experience, being able to have her here, being able to spend time with her and for her to come watch all the games that she can."

"It's given us time," she said. "Kids usually get away in their college years, want to get on their own. ... He comes by as much as he can."

Washington was close with his mother while growing up in New Orleans, but for his sophomore and junior years of high school he lived with his father and stepmother in Wisconsin. His father is Green Bay Packers assistant coach Lionel Washington.

Washington transferred to National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., where he repeated his junior year and spent his senior year while living with the school's coach.

Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times

Deron Washington is just the sixth player in Virginia Tech men's basketball history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks.

He was a Tech sophomore when his mother moved to town.

Denise Washington lived in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans' Eighth Ward. When the levees were breached in August 2005, her home was flooded by a foot of water and ruined by mold. She lost all her material possessions. The middle school in the Lower Ninth Ward where she taught was also ruined by the flooding.

So she started over in Blacksburg.

"I love it here," she said.

"Denise is like the team mom," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "She's the den mother."

But with her son on track to graduate in May, she is considering moving back home later this year. Her New Orleans home has been repaired and she now rents it out. She could move back into her house or move in with her mother.

"If I move back to New Orleans, I would be starting from scratch," she said. "I'd have to look for a job. ... I'm not sure what I want to do because I would be here by myself, as opposed to Louisiana where a lot of family and friends are."

"I think she wants to move back home to be with the rest of the family," her son said.

Washington, a small forward who is Tech's lone senior starter, has helped the Hokies (17-11, 8-6 ACC) become a contender for an NCAA tournament bid. He ranks third on the team in scoring (12.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.3 rpg), up from 5.3 rebounds per game last season.

"I'm ... happy to be known for having the big dunks and the big-time plays, but a big part of my game is playing defense and rebounding," said Washington, a four-year starter who has four double-doubles this season.

"Deron has become, in a lot of ways, the face of the program," Greenberg said. "In pivotal games, he's come up with pivotal plays defensively."

Washington, who is averaging double figures in scoring for the third straight season, became a YouTube favorite last season for his dunks and for the time he hurdled Duke's Greg Paulus for a layup.

His favorite jam this season came when he dunked over Gani Lawal at Georgia Tech. But the basket he considers the highlight of his career was the layup he made at the buzzer in January to give Tech an overtime win at Virginia.

Washington has been less impressive farther from the hoop, although Greenberg said he has taken a step forward the past three weeks. Washington is shooting a career-low 39.4 percent from the field this season -- down from 50.3 percent last season, when he spent part of the year at power forward.

Washington is shooting 20.4 percent from 3-point range (10-of-49), down from 30.8 percent last season (20-of-65).

"The 3 hasn't been falling, but I know I can make a middle shot," he said. "I know a lot of people are going to probably step up and try to take a charge when I try to go the basket, so that's why I've been shooting a lot more shots [outside the paint]."

Washington ranks 20th in Tech history in scoring (1,293 career points) and sixth in blocks (111), and also has 637 rebounds. He is just the sixth player in Tech history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots.

He hopes to be playing professionally next season.

"I'm looking [to make] ... the NBA, but if I'm not ready for that yet, I'll just keep on working," he said. "I've just got to keep working on my shot, working in the weight room, working on my ball-handling skills."

Denise Washington said she won't move to whichever city her son is playing in next season. But whether she is living in New Orleans or Blacksburg next year, she will definitely make some trips to cheer him on.

"That's just a part of my life," she said. "It's been like that since he was 4 and I don't think it will ever change."