Michigan guard George Washington III plans to enter NCAA transfer portal
Michigan Wolverines basketball players have the ability to enter the NCAA transfer portal since head coach Juwan Howard was fired Friday (March 15), and guard George Washington III plans to do so, he told On3. Washington will be a sophomore next season and has three years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder appeared in 22 games off the bench in his lone season in Ann Arbor, totaling 145 minutes. He scored 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, 4-of-18 from three-point range and 12-of-14 from the foul line. He put up 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
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Washington released a statement on social media announcing his entrance into the portal, but did note that he’d consider a return to Michigan.
“I want to thank Wolverine Nation for the support and great moments over this past year,” Washington wrote. “Coach Howard and staff, thank you for providing me with the opportunity to wear the blue and maize! The time I’ve spent with my brothers and coaches has been set in stone in my story forever.
“While this is now how I imagined my time at Michigan to be like, I want to continue to keep my options open as God works his magic on my life. After thoughtful prayer and discussions with my family, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal with the option to return to Michigan for the ’24-’25 season.”
Washington didn’t put himself in position to be in Michigan’s rotation on a regular basis, though there were a few games that he did play some minutes while games were in doubt. His career scoring night game with 10 points in a loss to Purdue Jan. 23. The most minutes he ever played in a game was a setback to Illinois in Champaign Feb. 13.
Washington was a three-star recruit, ranked the No. 126 overall player in the 2023 class, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the No. 9 combo guard in the nation and fourth-best player in Ohio. Washington was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Ohio.
Given his lack of playing time — even on a Michigan team that lost 18 of its final 20 games and missed the NCAA Tournament by a wide margin — Washington’s transition to the college game didn’t go as smoothly as expected. He said before the season that his goal was to learn to become a playmaker at this level.
“For me, the biggest thing for me on the playmaking side of things is still figuring out that level of what worked in high school coming off of plays and what doesn’t work at this level, what defenders are looking for, what’s being baited, what’s not,” the Michigan guard said in October. “Right now, those are the fastest things.
“But I’ve been making a lot better reads coming off of that ball screen and reading the low man, reading if that defender helps over, who he’s leaving, who’s sliding back up. That comes from a lot of film, a lot of getting in with our coaches and going over play by play to make sure I’m improving.”
Michigan endured its losingest season ever, finishing 8-24 overall, including a 3-17 mark in Big Ten regular-season play.
