As anticipated, Maurice Washington has entered the transfer portal, opening himself up to potential other college options after the Huskers parted ways with him late last week.

While Scott Frost hasn't commented on the specifics of Nebraska's final decision to move on, the running back's status with the Husker program had seemed in serious jeopardy since October, with Washington not part of the team the second half of the season for various reasons.

Frost had said at the early signing day press conference a couple weeks ago that he planned to meet with the player that week to discuss the next move for Washington. On Friday afternoon, NU athletics put out a brief statement saying Washington has been dismissed from the team and was expected to enter the portal soon.

On Tuesday, after the news of him entering the portal came out, Washington tweeted, "I would like to thank everyone who helped me and believed in me on this journey nothing but love for husker nation!"

In October, Frost said he wouldn't have handled the Washington situation any differently than he had, but wished the story had taken on a different course than it did. Frost explained that his philosophy on handling players with issues perhaps lines up to the man who coached him, Tom Osborne.

"He wasn't quick to crumble kids up and throw them away," Frost said then. "Some of the kids that are in some of those situations, if they're gone out of this program, that road doesn't lead to very many good places. As long as I'm here, I'm going to try to help these young men as much as I can. That's the promise I make to their parents when I sit in their living room and tell them we're going to try to help them no matter what."

Washington has a legal case in California that began last offseason remains ongoing, with his next preliminary examination hearing set for this Friday.

He faces two charges for allegedly sending a 10-second video of a 15-year-old girl performing oral sex — his former girlfriend – to the girl in March 2018. Washington did not record the video, nor was he involved with the sex act. He is charged with possession of a video of a person under 18 engaging in or simulating sexual conduct and a misdemeanor charge of sharing the video without consent.

The charges against Washington were filed in February, and he has made multiple court appearances in California since then, with the case being continued multiple times without much movement.

Having just finished his sophomore season without using a redshirt, Washington was more or less suspended from the team seven games into 2019 campaign, with Frost saying then he was not part of the team's plans in the immediate future.

The decision, the coach said at the time, had nothing to do with the legal matter in California. Rather, "there's certain standards that we ask our players to uphold," Frost said. "When those standards aren't upheld, it doesn't matter who it is, they're not going to be a part of our plans that week or potentially longer."

Washington's on-field talent can't be denied, with him contributing from the jump as a true freshman, and the back proving one of Nebraska's best weapons early in the season. He ran for 298 yards and averaged 6.0 yards per rush, while also ending up fifth in the team in receiving yards with 162, despite not playing in 5 1/2 games.

As a freshman he had 455 yards rushing and 221 yards receiving, and was viewed as one of Nebraska's best weapons heading into 2019.