Every generation of Georgetown basketball remembers a player whose talent seemed unbounded, only to falter in the classroom. For fans of the John Thompson III era, one name comes to mind: Greg Whittington.

"Reed-thin, tall and lanky, the teenager usually preferred hanging out with friends in his Columbia neighborhood," wrote the Washington Post. "He did not hit the summer tournament trail until after his junior year and even then it was with a group of fellow players from Howard County, not known as a hotbed for major college basketball recruits. Yet now, somewhat suddenly, the 6-foot-9, 195-pound Whittington is perhaps the Washington area's most sought-after recruit." A full-court press by the Georgetown staff led Whittington to select Georgetown over Maryland in March 2011, preceding the commitment of Otto Porter by a month.

Both Porter and Whittington grew into their roles as freshmen. Whittington was a solid contributor for the 2011-12 Hoyas, averaging five points off the bench but with some encouraging efforts in key games, including a combined 20 points and 10 rebounds in two games versus St. John's and an 11 point, six rebound effort versus Pitt in the Big East tournament.

Whittington's star was ascendant as a sophomore. He scored 18 points and nine rebounds in an early season win over Liberty, 15 points and five rebounds in an overtime loss to #1 Indiana. He followed it up with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Mt. St. Mary's, and by mid season was averaging 12.5 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, narrowly trailing Porter.

On January 12, 2013, Whittington did not travel with the team to St. John's, where team officials called it a violation of team rules. A day later, it was reported that Whittington was ineligible for the spring semester. Georgetown offered no specifics, but campus chatter suggested that Whittington may have no-showed a final exam in a pass-fail course. His absence may have derailed one of John Thompson III's best teams, which won the Big East regular season title but crashed in a first round NCAA loss to Florida Gulf Coast.

Whittington's return to the lineup took another turn in June, when the junior forward suffered a ACL tear. He saw no game action in the first five games of the season, then was dismissed from the team in late November over indifference to academics.

Whittington announced a transfer to Rutgers, but never enrolled. Instead, he gravitated to the NBA developmental leagues, playing a season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and then spending four years playing for clubs in Australia, Japan, Israel, and Turkey.

In 2020, Whittington signed a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets, but was waived after no points in four games.