Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Damon Stoudamire entered the offseason waiting to see if he would be able to retain perhaps his best player last season, point guard Naithan George. George opted to enter the transfer portal, and Stoudamire was left scrambling to find a replacement for the ACC assists leader last season. It took him a while, but Stoudamire landed Lamar Washington.
Washington will undoubtedly assume the starting point guard role for the Yellow Jackets on opening night, and it will be the first time that he starts for a major college basketball program since he started three games for the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2023-24 season.
Washington was productive with the Pacific Tigers, where he started all 33 games for the team last season, averaging 13.5 points and 5.8 assists per game.
However, Washington and the Tigers did not beat any of the Power Four conference teams that they played last season, and only faced one ranked team: the Arkansas Razorbacks, and although Washington did have a big game, the Tigers still lost 91-72.
Putting Washington in such a spot with the Yellow Jackets to start the season is not ideal, as he is still an unproven guy, and a lot of weight will be put on his shoulders early in the season to get the offense flowing through him.
It is not ideal for any team to have a transfer player come in and take the reigns of the offense from day one, but Stoudamire made it clear in his transfer portal additions that Washington would be the replacement for George.