Sophomore guard Mac McClung withdrew his name from the NBA Draft and entered the transfer portal on May 13. McClung averaged 15.7 points, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game over 21 games played in his sophomore year, before being sidelined with plantar fasciitis. McClung will request a waiver to be immediately eligible for the 2020-21 season.
This move marks the culmination of several days of confusion surrounding McClung’s status in relation to the team. On May 5, men’s basketball head coach Patrick Ewing said that McClung would be returning to Georgetown for the 2020-21 season in an appearance on Andy Katz’s podcast. Later that day, McClung’s agent Daniel Hazan of Hazan Sports Management disputed this claim, stating that McClung had not notified anyone that he would be returning to Georgetown for his junior year.
McClung told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony that the podcast was not the deciding factor in his decision to transfer, though he noted that it “affected [McClung’s] pre-draft process, and seemed to confuse a lot of teams”.
“It was a number of different events that made me feel I had no choice but to transfer from Georgetown,” McClung told Givony. “I really wanted to stay, but things throughout my career made me realize that I couldn’t.”
“Mac was an integral piece of our program and when he let me know his decision I was disappointed, but he needs to do what’s best for him. I want to wish him luck in his future endeavors,” Ewing said in a statement to Kareem Copeland of The Washington Post. “Moving forward, our focus is the core we have coming back and our incoming class.”
McClung is the final member of the 2018 recruiting class to transfer from Georgetown, following forwards Grayson Carter, Josh LeBlanc, and guard James Akinjo.
UPDATE: McClung announced on May 27 that he will transfer to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
