Michigan assistant Howard Eisley: Freshman George Washington III will 'help us a lot this year'
Michigan Wolverines basketball is thin in the backcourt heading into the 2023-24 season, which is just over a month away. The Maize and Blue have only three true guards in sophomore Dug McDaniel, graduate Jaelin Llewellyn (who’s still working to get back to full strength after an ACL injury suffered last season) and freshman George Washington III. Graduate Nimari Burnett, an Alabama transfer, and others also slide to the ‘2.’
Given that lack of depth, Washington — the team’s only freshman, a three-star recruit and the nation’s the No. 128 player in the 2023 class per the On3 Industry Ranking — may have to play an early role for the Wolverines.
Washington is a combo guard, and like most freshmen, is more comfortable playing off the ball at this point in his development. His strength is his shooting ability, with the Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year having made 46.5 percent of his tries from three-point range as a prep senior at Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade-Julienne Catholic.
“He’s great. He’s a worker. He wants to learn, he wants to get better,” Michigan assistant coach Howard Eisley said on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with host Brian Boesch. “George is an incredible shooter.”
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Where Eisley, who works primarily with Michigan’s guards, is trying to help him improve is with his skills on the ball. The Wolverines are bereft of a plethora of ball handlers, and Washington will have to be one that’s trusted in that area.
“Right now, we’re trying to help grow him in the playmaking department,” Eisley continued. “That’s challenging for any freshman coming in looking to run our offense. It’s probably the toughest position on the floor to play for us. We experience when guys come in, even older guys coming in, it takes them a while to adjust. George is going to be a guy that’s going to play two positions for us, so again, that’s challenging, trying to learn two positions at this level. But he’s smart of us, has a very good basketball IQ.Q., and he’s just gonna have to work at it.”
There will be some ups and downs, but Eisley noted that the Michigan freshman will have to contribute and keep pushing, like McDaniel did last season (though McDaniel played much more than Washington likely will this year).
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“It’s going to have some bad days, and he’s just gotta continue to work through them, and hopefully his confidence doesn’t get down,” Eisley said. “I see George helping us a lot this year.”
Burnett will also have to handle the ball more than he did at Alabama. With the Crimson Tide last season, 40.5 percent of Burnett’s possessions came on spot-ups, and 26.8 percent were in transition. He ran just 16 ball-screen possessions.
Burnett has added a level of maturity to the Michigan locker room, already a leader. He’ll join graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua and junior guard Jace Howard as a representative at Big Ten Media Days in Minneapolis Oct. 10. Burnett didn’t play a huge role in Tuscaloosa but believes his game can be showcased more in Ann Arbor, including with a bigger role as a ball-handler.
“If you look at our roster, you can see the guys that came into our program, they all have something to prove, and Nimari is no different,” the Michigan assistant coach said. “Whether it’s guys who were looking for an opportunity to play more or guys looking for an opportunity to showcase their skill set. We have guys, older guys, that really are motivated, which is good.
“Now, our job as coaches is trying to put them in the best position to succeed and take advantage of their skill sets. But when you have guys that are really motivated to go out and perform, it’s only going to help your team.”
