George Washington III, Ohio State commit, leaving CAL for senior year

On Apr 8, 2022

Male's Demetrius White tries to pressure Christian Academy's George Washington III. The Bulldogs outlast the Centurions 86-76 Tuesday night in the 7th Region boys quarterfinals. March 1, 2022

George Washington III, one of the nation’s top basketball recruits in the Class of 2023 and an Ohio State University commit, will not play his senior season at Christian Academy.

His father, George Washington Jr., has been named an assistant coach with the University of Dayton women’s basketball program and will be moving the family to Dayton at the end of this school year.

“I will be forever indebted to CAL,” George Washington Jr. said. “They helped my young men grow into the boys they are now. … I give a lot of that credit to (head coach) Aaron Hill. He gave them the freedom to play and the opportunity to lead.”

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George III, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 23.4 points and 6.8 rebounds for a Centurions team that finished 20-12 last season after losing to Male 86-76 in the quarterfinals of the Seventh Region Tournament.

He’s ranked the No. 47 prospect in the nation in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports.com and was expected to battle No. 23 Reed Sheppard (North Laurel, University of Kentucky commit) and No. 55 Kaleb Glenn (Male, University of Louisville commit) for Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball honor next season.

His younger brother Jackson — a 6-foot-3 sophomore — averaged 12.9 points and 1.5 rebounds for CAL last season and shot a team-best 48.3% from 3-point range (85 for 176).

Hill said he knew all along a family move was a possibility.

“Somebody in Dayton is going to get a steal,” Hill said. “Assuming he stays healthy, (George III) is going to have a shot to win Mr. Basketball in Ohio next year. And (Jackson) is going to have a lot of schools recruiting him soon.”

George Washington Jr. said his sons will complete the current school year at CAL before moving to Dayton. He’s not sure what school they’ll attend next season.

“It’s a circus right now because all of the coaches up there just caught wind that we’re coming,” he said. “Preferably, it will be a private school. Our kids have always attended private schools.”

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The Washington family moved to Louisville from Texas in the summer of 2020. George Washington Jr. was an assistant coach with the University of Texas women’s basketball program for eight years before being named the girls basketball coach at Mercy Academy. He led the Jaguars to a 13-14 record during the 2020-21 season. He spent this school year as an assistant athletic director at CAL.