Former men’s basketball guard James Bishop IV signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves 2K25 Summer League team, according to a University release last month.
Bishop, who etched his name into GW history as the third-highest-scoring player in GW history with 2,103 career points over four seasons, will kick off his professional career this summer. As part of the Timberwolves Summer League, he will have the opportunity to earn a contract with either the team or their G-League developmental affiliate, the Iowa Wolves.
The NBA Summer League typically features younger players looking to establish themselves at the professional level. Many who have played in this league have gone on to become renowned players, like 2010 Summer League MVP and former Washington Wizards guard John Wall. Some players go overseas to continue their careers following a summer league run.
Bishop earned First Team All-Conference honors in the 2022-23 season, becoming the school’s first honoree of that level in nearly two decades. The Baltimore native also took home the A-10 Scoring Title that season, averaging 21.6 points per game, good for twelfth in the nation.
Minnesota’s summer league team was the home of Bishop’s former teammate Brendan Adams last season. The former Revs’ guard appeared in three games last summer for the Timberwolves, averaging 4.3 points per game. Adams now plays for Darussafaka Basketball in Turkey.
The Timberwolves finished third overall in the Western Conference last season, going all the way to the Western Conference Finals before falling to the Mavericks in seven games.
Bishop went undrafted in the 2024 NBA Draft. Despite his status as a leading scorer for the Revs, Bishop faced an arduous road to become one of 64 draft picks coming from a non-Power-Six conference school.
In his final season, Bishop averaged 18.3 points per game, alongside 137 assists and 88 total rebounds, earning Third Team All A-10 Conference team honors. The Revs’ finished last in the A-10 this season with a conference record of 4-14 and a cumulative record of 15-17, falling to La Salle in the A-10 tournament by a score of 61-60.
Bishop will be competing against former teammate Ricky Lindo Jr., who signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks for the summer. Lindo played in Finland last season for Kouvut, where he recorded 17.5 points per game.
The Timberwolves’ first game in Las Vegas is Friday, July 12 against the New Orleans Pelicans. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. on ESPN 2. The Timberwolves will also take on the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 67ers, and the Houston Rockets throughout the summer.
