The Curious Case Of George Washington III: Transfer Portal Bound Yet Again

To say George Washington III has had a turbulent offseason would be putting matters lightly. As of Monday afternoon, Washington III has entered the transfer portal for the second time in as many months, signaling another change of direction in his college basketball career.

After struggling to log consistent minutes during his freshman season at Michigan, Washington III first entered the transfer portal on March 18, just three days after U-M fired Juwan Howard. From there, Washington III’s eventual landing spot was not clear, but neither was the trajectory of the Wolverines’ basketball squad since U-M didn’t name Dusty May as its next head coach until almost a week later on March 24.

Since all that occurred, Michigan’s basketball roster for the 2024-25 season has been in a constant state of flux. Primarily, May has been working overtime to pull in talented collegiate hoopers from the transfer portal (a la former FAU big man Vlad Goldin, which Brandon covered here) as his new team began to take shape. Now with a more fleshed out squad, May is pushing to transform Michigan into a tournament team right out of the gate. In total, May has added six hoopers from the transfer portal in just over one month on the job, so the Wolverines team is going to look entirely new and revamped next season, which is part of the idea after U-M experienced jarring low points last year. 

As it pertains to Washington III, his reentrance to the transfer portal would spell the end to his time at Michigan and open up another scholarship for May to allocate in the process. 

READ MORE: Big Time Transfer Vlad Goldin Commits To Michigan, Dusty May

Last year, Washington III featured in 22 games (all off the bench) for the Wolverines but couldn’t get much going during his 6.5 minutes per game, posting a career-high 10 points against Purdue during the Big Ten season. Now, the former Gatorade Ohio Basketball Player of the Year (2023) will be surveying his options at other schools in his search for more consistent playing time. 

As a result, Michigan is expected to pursue another guard with the extra scholarship at the Wolverines’ disposal.

Here is how the Michigan Basketball roster currently looks with the addition of Goldin and subtraction of Washington III included:

What do you think of the way Michigan’s new-look roster is shaping up ahead of the 2024-25 season? Is Dusty May steering the ship in the right direction? Follow @EricJRutter, @mlounsberry_SI and @BSB_Wolverine for more updates on Michigan Athletics at Wolverine Digest.