By R.L. Bynum
Puff Johnson will continue his college career at Penn State.
Johnson, who will be a senior, also got interest from several other schools, including Kentucky, Indiana, Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma and Butler, visiting the latter.
The younger brother of Cameron Johnson, who played at Carolina for two seasons from 2017–19, Puff Johnson missed 36 games during his three seasons in Chapel Hill because of injuries.
“Let’s Rock,” Johnson posted on social media, announcing his plans.
“I really liked the coaching staff since they recruited my brother at Rice,” he told On3.com. “It is not only close to home, but the people there make it feel like home for me.”
Mike Rhoades was named head coach at Penn State on March 29 after going 129–61 in six seasons at VCU. Before that, he was 47–52 in three seasons at Rice. He was 197–76 in 10 seasons before that at Randolph-Macon. Rhoades took over for Micah Strewsberry, who left to replace Mike Brey at Notre Dame.
The Nittany Lions went 23–14 last season and made the NCAA tournament. Penn State beat No. 17 Texas A&M 76–59 in the first round before losing to No. 5 Texas 71–66.
The Pittsburgh native scored 1,960 career points in his high school career, making 46.6% of his 3-point attempts.
Johnson missed the last 15 games of his freshman season with a sprained right toe. He missed the first 15 games of his sophomore season because of a hip flexor and a sprained right ankle. Last season, he missed the first three games and three games in the middle of the ACC season with right knee injuries.
Johnson scored 200 points over 739 minutes in 65 games, averaging 11.4 minutes per game and making 24.7% of his 3-point shots. Last season, he averaged career-highs of 4.1 points and 16 minutes per game while shooting a career-high 28.3% from outside the arc.
His career-high came in Carolina’s 84–74 win at N.C. State on Feb. 26, 2002, when he scored 16 points and two 3-pointers with five rebounds.
Two of his other five double-figure scoring games came in the 2022 NCAA Tournament — 11 points against Marquette in the 95–63 first-round win and the 72–69 championship-game defeat against Kansas.
He had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals in a career-high 48 minutes in the 103–101 four-overtime Nov. 11 loss last season in Portland against Alabama.
Key events, dates
April 27 (at 11:59 p.m. ET) — Deadline for players to submit their names to the NBA draft
May 1 — Transfer portal closes
May 11–12 — NBA G League Elite Camp in Chicago
May 12–19 — NBA Combine in Chicago
May 17–19 — Evaluation for high school players at NCAA-certified events (EYBL in Indianapolis is on those)
Potential 2024-25 UNC men’s roster
| No. | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Freshman | James Brown (4 star) | 5 | 6–8 | 225 |
| — | Freshman | Ian Jackson (5 star) | 2 | 6–4 | 180 |
| — | Freshman | Drake Powell (5 star) | 2 | 6–5 | 185 |
| 2 | Soph. | Elliot Cadeau | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 1 | Soph. | Zayden High | 4 | 6–9 | 225 |
| 13 | Junior | Jalen Washington | 5 | 6–10 | 230 |
| 55 | Senior | Harrison Ingram | 4 | 6–7 | 235 |
| Eligible for fifth season | |||||
| 5 | Graduate | RJ Davis | PG | 6–0 | 180 |
| 24 | Graduate | Jae’Lyn Withers | 4 | 6–9 | 215 |
| Walk-ons eligible for 5th season | |||||
| 14 | Graduate | Creighton Lebo | PG | 6–1 | 180 |
| 22 | Graduate | Rob Landry | 2 | 6–4 | 190 |
2023–24 UNC players to enter transfer portal
| Class | Player | Date entered | Pos. | Hgt. | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | James Okonkwo | April 5 | F | 6–8 | Akron |
| Junior | Seth Trimble | April 9 | G | 6–3 | TBA |
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