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George Washington III is in the transfer portal but will consider playing for Dusty May at Michigan

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•03/26/24•

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George Washington III
Rick Osentoski | USA TODAY Sports

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Numerous figures inside the Michigan athletics community attended new head basketball coach Dusty May‘s introductory press conference. That included assistant coach Saddi Washington, who’s been on staff with the Wolverines from 2016-23 and current players Jace Howard, Will Tschetter and George Washington III.

Washington, a rising sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining, entered the NCAA transfer portal March 18 but announced at the time that he would consider a return to Michigan. Wearing team-issued gear at May’s press conference, Washington spoke about his current juncture in the process.

“Yeah, I have,” Washington said after being asked if he’s heard from schools since entering the portal. “But it’s still early. I love this place, and I’m interested to see what happens.”

May discussed bringing back and reeling in players that fit his vision at Michigan. He’ll evaluate them, and they’ll do the same to May and the staff that he’ll hire. Washington is excited for that to occur.

“Honestly, it was a lot of what he said when he was up there — that mutual fit between how he’s looking for the team to play, how I play the game, how he coaches, how I receive it,” Washington said. “I already feel like that does kind of match up. Just making sure that we’re on the same page and that what we’re both looking for lines up together. I’m looking forward to talking.”

May did speak with some Michigan players since accepting the job Saturday evening (March 23), holding a meeting in Ann Arbor. Washington was in attendance.

“I think right now I’m still thinking it through,” the Michigan guard said. “But I’m really interested to really get to know and build a relationship with him. I’ve talked to him a little bit. I’m interested to grow that.”

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.

“The biggest thing any freshman learns is just consistency. Obviously, there are a lot of terms, a lot of terminology, a lot of sets that you have to shift and lock into your brain and get ready for,” the Michigan guard said when asked what he learned over his first year in college basketball. “I would say a combination of just that and just adding to my game as a whole, adding film sessions, adding extra work and just growing my game continuously from what it was in high school.”

Michigan has just four players that haven’t entered the transfer portal — Jace Howard, graduate guard Nimari Burnett, graduate forward Terrance Williams II and redshirt junior forward Will Tschetter.

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