George Washington III gives thoughts on Dusty May, transfer portal

Numerous Michigan athletics icons showed up to Dusty May's introductory press conference at the Junge Family Champions Center in Ann Arbor on Tuesday afternoon.

Among those in attendance were Sherrone Moore, Kim Barnes Arico, Carol Hutchins, Jace Howard, Will Tschetter and George Washington III.

Howard and Tschetter remain just two of the four scholarship players on the roster at the moment, along with Nimari Burnett and Terrance Williams II, neither of whom Maize and Blue Review spotted at the press conference.

George Washington III, though, is currently in the transfer portal. Although he's publicly noted that a return to Michigan is still on the table, it was somewhat surprising to see Washington III at May's press conference.

"While this is not 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," Washington III wrote in a recent statement release on social media. "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."

Now that May is entrenched as Michigan's head men's basketball coach, Washington III can now begin to make an informed decision about his future with the program.

Maize and Blue Review caught up with Washington III after May's press conference concluded.

"I left the option to come back just because you never know what happens. I did that because when Juwan left, everything was up in the air, so I didn't want to be stuck with my feet being caught in the ground and maybe a coach coming in that doesn't like my style of play or something like that. So, I just wanted to be able to have open options. But I'm really interested to get to build a relationship with Dusty and know him and figure out how it works."

As for now, Washington III says he hasn't met with May for an extended period of time to discuss the future, but he knows that May is a good coach with the best intentions for his players.

"I've ran into him for a little bit. Nothing like long or no meeting or anything, but he's a great guy."

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