Georgetown's Mac McClung told ESPN that he has requested to enter the transfer portal, immediately becoming the most sought-after transfer in the country.
McClung informed Georgetown of his plans earlier Wednesday, and he also intends to withdraw his name from the NBA draft. He expects to appear in the portal imminently, after completing the required paperwork.
"It was a number of different events that made me feel I had no choice but to transfer from Georgetown," McClung told ESPN. "I really wanted to stay, but things throughout my career made me realize that I couldn't.
"I'm looking for a place I can call home. A place I can be a part of a family and help them succeed."
McClung, a 6-foot-2 guard, was named to the Big East's all-freshman team after averaging 13.1 points in 26.4 minutes for the Hoyas. He was in the midst of a breakout sophomore season, averaging 15.7 points, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 27 minutes per game, before a foot injury derailed his season after just 21 games.
He suffered the injury in practice on Feb. 1 and was cleared to return to action after only three weeks. McClung played only 8 minutes against Providence on Feb. 21 before signaling to a referee that he could no longer continue and limped off the court to the locker room, marking his last appearance in a Georgetown uniform.
McClung will be filing a waiver to play immediately, he told ESPN.
He received a fair amount of attention from NBA teams during the pre-draft process, conducting 11 interviews. He was scheduled for five more interviews that he eventually canceled upon deciding to transfer, according to his agent, Daniel Hazan.
McClung received a significant amount of feedback from NBA executives on what they'd like to see him improve on, Hazan said, and he felt comfortable with what he had learned during the pre-draft process.
"Going through this process was really informative," McClung said. "I got a chance to speak to the decision-makers and hear what they thought about my game. They shared with me things I need to work on to be successful at the next level. I'm very optimistic about the feedback I have received and can't wait to take that knowledge to my future home."
Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing, appearing on a podcast with Andy Katz on May 5, said McClung would be returning for his junior year. Hazan said McClung never informed Ewing of that and was blindsided to see reports of him withdrawing from the NBA draft while he was in the midst of navigating the pre-draft process.
"The podcast with Andy Katz was not the deciding factor to my decision to transfer," McClung said. "I think it affected my pre-draft process, and seemed to confuse a lot of teams."
McClung has more than 730,000 followers on Instagram, in large part because of his dunks, deep pull-up 3-pointers and fiery on-court demeanor. He achieved online celebrity in high school by eclipsing Allen Iverson's career scoring record in the state of Virginia, as well from several highlight-reel finishes that went viral.