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TRANSFER: Georgetown Sophomore Center, Qudus Wahab, Enters Transfer Portal

Wahab led Georgetown with 8 double-doubles this season

Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament - Marquette v Georgetown Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Well, Hoyas fans, we knew something was coming with regard to roster news, but this was completely unexpected. The Georgetown Hoyas’ starting sophomore center Qudus Wahab has entered his name in the transfer portal.

Wahab was an integral part of the BIG EAST Tournament Championship and was named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament team.

Last Saturday, in the first-round loss to Colorado, Qudus Wahab recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a career-best 20 points, on 7-of-12 shooting, and 12 rebounds.

Wahab was set to lead next year’s squad, even with addition of incoming 4-star freshman Ryan Mutombo. At this time, Georgetown has two other 7-footers on the roster in sophomore Timothy Ighoefe and red-shirt sophomore Malcolm Wilson.

What makes this move so surprising to Hoyas fans was that Patrick Ewing has recently praised Wahab as potentially developing into one of Georgetown’s best-ever bigs—no small task considering Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo lead that list.

Ewing also supported his words by focusing the offense on feeding Wahab in the low post. Wahab scored 10 or more points in all but three of the 15 games since coming back from the COVID pause. Wahab’s success in the post, especially in the BIG EAST Tournament, helped keep the offense moving and drew important fouls.

2020-21 Game Log Table
Rk Date School Opponent Type GS MP FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST BLK TOV PF PTS
1 2020-11-25 Georgetown UMBC REG W 1 21 6 8 .750 0 1 .000 4 8 12 0 2 3 4 12
2 2020-12-01 Georgetown Navy REG L 1 29 7 11 .636 2 3 .667 2 5 7 1 0 2 4 16
3 2020-12-06 Georgetown West Virginia REG L 1 23 3 7 .429 3 4 .750 3 6 9 0 3 0 4 9
4 2020-12-08 Georgetown Coppin State REG W 1 23 2 3 .667 3 5 .600 0 4 4 0 2 4 4 7
5 2020-12-11 Georgetown Villanova REG L 1 28 5 12 .417 2 2 1.000 3 2 5 0 1 1 2 12
6 2020-12-13 Georgetown St. John's (NY) REG W 1 38 7 9 .778 3 4 .750 4 6 10 1 9 1 3 17
7 2020-12-20 Georgetown @ St. John's (NY) REG L 1 24 3 6 .500 6 7 .857 1 5 6 0 2 2 5 12
8 2020-12-23 Georgetown @ Seton Hall REG L 1 31 6 14 .429 4 5 .800 4 9 13 0 2 1 4 16
9 2021-01-02 Georgetown Marquette REG L 1 32 6 12 .500 1 2 .500 3 7 10 0 3 2 3 13
10 2021-01-06 Georgetown @ Butler REG L 1 33 4 8 .500 1 1 1.000 3 9 12 0 2 0 3 9
11 2021-01-09 Georgetown @ Syracuse REG L 1 20 3 4 .750 3 3 1.000 0 1 1 0 1 1 3 9
12 2021-01-30 Georgetown Providence REG W 0 20 4 6 .667 1 2 .500 3 2 5 0 1 1 2 9
13 2021-02-03 Georgetown @ Creighton REG W 1 31 5 9 .556 2 4 .500 2 6 8 0 0 2 4 12
14 2021-02-07 Georgetown @ Villanova REG L 1 28 8 11 .727 1 2 .500 2 5 7 0 1 3 2 17
15 2021-02-09 Georgetown Creighton REG L 1 25 3 7 .429 0 0 5 3 8 0 0 4 2 6
16 2021-02-13 Georgetown Butler REG W 1 29 4 5 .800 4 6 .667 3 6 9 0 2 2 4 12
17 2021-02-20 Georgetown Seton Hall REG W 1 30 4 7 .571 3 6 .500 3 8 11 0 3 3 4 11
18 2021-02-23 Georgetown UConn REG L 1 33 5 6 .833 8 12 .667 3 7 10 1 1 5 2 18
19 2021-02-27 Georgetown @ DePaul REG W 1 24 3 9 .333 1 1 1.000 2 5 7 0 2 3 4 7
20 2021-03-02 Georgetown Xavier REG W 1 30 6 7 .857 1 1 1.000 4 3 7 1 0 2 2 13
21 2021-03-06 Georgetown @ UConn REG L 1 29 7 11 .636 2 3 .667 2 5 7 0 0 3 3 16
22 2021-03-10 Georgetown N Marquette CTOURN W 1 25 6 8 .750 7 7 1.000 2 5 7 0 0 1 2 19
23 2021-03-11 Georgetown N Villanova CTOURN W 1 28 5 8 .625 7 7 1.000 1 5 6 0 0 0 5 17
24 2021-03-12 Georgetown N Seton Hall CTOURN W 1 31 3 9 .333 4 9 .444 2 6 8 0 2 1 2 10
25 2021-03-13 Georgetown N Creighton CTOURN W 1 32 5 6 .833 1 7 .143 2 10 12 1 1 4 3 11
26 2021-03-20 Georgetown N Colorado NCAA L 1 24 7 12 .583 6 9 .667 4 8 12 0 1 0 1 20
26 Games 25 721 127 215 .591 76 113 .673 67 146 213 5 41 51 81 330
Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 3/25/2021.

Wahab does have some things to work on. Wahab’s foul trouble was his biggest limitation to minutes and success on the floor. Colorado exposed his defensive limitations in switching on screens defensively. Also, some frustration by fans and commentators targeted Wahab’s propensity to rarely pass out of the post, having only 5 assists on the year total. Still, none of this adds up to entering the transfer portal.

Georgetown issued a statement, first captured by The Washington Post:

Patrick Ewing told Jacob Polacheck of Zagsblog:

“Q was an important piece of our success this year and he needs to do what he feels is best for him. I want to wish him luck in his future. After an exciting postseason, we are ready to focus on the 2021-22 season”

While entering the transfer portal does not seal his fate in leaving Georgetown, the flurry of recent transfers has many likening the portal to “free agency.” Ewing’s comments indicate that Wahab is out the door.

There is no way to tell if this particular defection has caught Patrick Ewing by surprise, but Georgetown has been too often mentioned often in checking on transfers and 2020 recruits to not think that he expected a roster spot to open. It’s just that no one expected it to be Qudus.

We wish Qudus well in his future endeavors.