Michigan basketball's George Washington III re-enters transfer portal

Michigan guard George Washington III is back in the transfer portal.

Washington previously entered the portal on March 18, the first day it officially opened, after Juwan Howard was fired, before withdrawing on April 11, weeks after new coach Dusty May was hired.

Less than three weeks after pulling his name from the database, Washington has opted to re-enter the portal on Monday, a program spokesperson confirmed.

Since Washington withdrew from the portal, Michigan has added five guards to its retooled roster. That group includes transfers Rubin Jones (North Texas), Tre Donaldson (Auburn) and Roddy Gayle Jr. (Ohio State) and 2024 recruits Justin Pippen and Lorenzo Cason, who join fellow guard Durral Brooks in Michigan’s incoming class.

Washington, the lone freshman on Michigan’s roster last season, played sparingly during his first year in Ann Arbor. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder appeared in 22 games and tallied 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 144 minutes while shooting 18.5% from the field (5-for-27).

Washington, a former top-100 recruit who has three years of eligibility remaining, will look for an opportunity elsewhere as a sophomore, after serving as a depth piece off the bench with the Wolverines.

His decision to re-enter the portal means Michigan has at least one scholarship available for 2024-25. The Wolverines have filled at least 10 of the allotted 13 scholarship spots for next season, a number that includes returning forward Will Tschetter and the eight commitments May has landed in his first month on the job.

However, that scholarship total doesn’t account for Jace Howard and Nimari Burnett, who both have remaining eligibility but haven’t made any official declarations since the coaching change. Terrance Williams II, who declared for the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal on April 4, also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of coming back to Michigan for his final season.

So far this offseason, three former Wolverines have found new homes, with Dug McDaniel transferring to Kansas State, Tarris Reed Jr. heading to UConn and Youssef Khayat landing at Bowling Green. The transfer window for all college basketball players, including grad transfers, closes on Wednesday.

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

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