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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.
BREAKING: Georgetown center Qudus Wahab enters transfer portal.
— Casual Hoya (@CasualHoya) March 25, 2021
Wahab was an integral part of the BIG EAST Tournament Championship and was named to the All-BIG EAST Tournament team.
#BETourney all tournament team
— MTCWithMook ️ ✒️ (@MTCwithMook) March 14, 2021
Qudus Wahab, Georgetown
Jahvon Blair, Georgetown
Marcus Zegarowski, Creighton
Adama Sanogo, Connecticut
Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall
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.
| 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 |
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.
The idea that a promising big man would transfer AWAY from Patrick Ewing is just mind boggling.
— Bobby Bancroft (@BobbyBancroft) March 25, 2021
Like, that's supposed to be the THING that Georgetown has to offer among tons of other positives. To hone your skills under a HOF center, not move away from that opportunity.
Georgetown issued a statement, first captured by The Washington Post:
Georgetown announces sophomore center Qudus Wahab has entered the transfer portal. A bit of a blow considering how much Ewing consistently said he would develop into one of the program’s better centers. pic.twitter.com/vBh8VwNTcy
— Kareem Copeland (@kareemcopeland) March 25, 2021
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.