Cavaliers Now

Virginia Makes Top Five for Former Ohio State Commit George Washington III

Washington unveiled a new top five on Tuesday and Virginia made the cut along with Louisville, Dayton, Michigan, and Wake Forest

Matt Newton

George Washington III/Tipton Edits
In this story:

Former Ohio State commit and four-star class of 2023 recruit George Washington III (Dayton, OH) released a new top five on Tuesday morning and Virginia made the cut along with Louisville, Dayton, Michigan, and Wake Forest. 

Washington, a 6'2" shooting guard originally from Louisville, committed to Ohio State back in November of 2021. He moved to Dayton, Ohio to play his senior of high school basketball at Chaminade Julienne. 

Washington was the first to commit in Ohio State's recruiting class of 2023 last fall, but the Buckeyes have since added three more commits this year, including two in the month of August. Although none of those commits were guards, the Buckeyes have been very publicly and aggressively in pursuit of other guards in the class of 2023. Those recruits include four-star Taison Chatman, who also has Virginia in his final cut and is set to announce his decision on Tuesday night, and Bronny James, the son of LeBron James.

Update: Taison Chatman announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday night.

Chatman, James, and Washington were all in Columbus on official visits on the weekend of September 3rd when the Buckeyes hosted Notre Dame in football. Two days later, George Washington III announced that he was decommitting from Ohio State and reopening his recruitment. 

UVA reached out immediately and has been in contact with Washington consistently since then. Washington, who visited Virginia during his initial recruitment last fall, had planned a zoom call with Tony Bennett for Monday night, but now it is being reported that Bennett will be visiting Washington in person on Tuesday. 

“Coach (Tony) Bennett is a Hall-of-Fame coach. He’s one of the best to do it and they’re a top ACC school," Washington told On3's Joe Tipton.

A four-star prospect, George Washington III is listed as the No. 106 overall player in the class of 2023 per 247Sports as well as the No. 18 shooting guard in the nation and the No. 2 recruit in the state of Ohio. The 247 industry composite rankings have Washington at No. 76 overall and the No. 9 shooting guard in the country. 

Virginia is hoping to land at least one more verbal commit in the class of 2023 to join four-stars Blake Buchanan (Coeur D'Alene, ID) and Elijah Gertrude (Jersey City, NJ). In addition to George Washington III, UVA has made the most recent cut lists for: 

SF Andrej Stojakovic (Carmichael, CA)
CG Elmarko Jackson (South Kent, CT)
SG Davin Cosby (Richmond, VA)
SG Taison Chatman (Minneapolis, MN)

Update: Taison Chatman announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday night.

Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates

Follow CavaliersNow on Twitter
Follow CavaliersNow on Facebook

See more Virginia men's basketball news and content: Virginia Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated

Latest Virginia Cavaliers news and storylines

Five-Star Attackman Kyle Colsey Commits to Virginia Lacrosse

UVA Men's Golf Ranked No. 1 for First Time in Program History

Four-Star Davin Cosby Sets Decision Date, Virginia in Final Four

Virginia Football Now 10-Point Underdogs at Syracuse

Virginia Kicker Brendan Farrell Named ACC Specialist of the Week

ACC Announces Kickoff Time for Virginia at Duke Football Game

UVA Volleyball Goes 2-1 in Home Tournament, Off to Best Start Since 2004

Published
Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

Home/Basketball