- The Washington Times - Monday, December 2, 2019

Georgetown Hoyas starting point guard James Akinjo and forward Josh LeBlanc entered the NCAA transfer portal seven games into the 2019-20 season, according to multiple reports.

The program announced Monday night that Akinjo and LeBlanc were no longer with the team but declined to give a reason why, only stating that they “will not be playing for the men’s basketball team effective immediately and will not be members of the team for the remainder of the season.” Their names were already wiped from the roster on the Hoyas’ website.

The timing is peculiar, as both sophomores saw the floor for Georgetown this year, most recently on Saturday in a loss to UNC Greensboro. Akinjo led the team with 4.4 assists per game to go with 13.4 points per game. LeBlanc averaged 7.2 points per game off the bench over six appearances this year.

The NCAA changed some rules about transferring and created the “transfer portal” in 2018. In football the rules now allow athletes to elect to transfer after playing in up to four games without losing a year of eligibility, but that does not apply to basketball, so it’s uncommon to see players like Akinjo and LeBlanc elect to transfer midseason.

• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.

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