By R.L. Bynum
On a week that Tyler Nickel and Jalen Washington dealt with Vanderbilt’s unbeaten streak ending and Elliot Cadeau and Ian Jackson each had contrasting performances in wins, Puff Johnson’s long wait to get on the Ohio State roster finally ended.
Johnson played his first three seasons at UNC, averaging 11.4 minutes and 3.1 points, then averaged 21 minutes and 8.4 points the last two seasons at Penn State. He entered the transfer portal expecting to receive a medical hardship waiver. After being denied multiple times, he filed a lawsuit and was denied again.
Johnson is eligible because the temporary restraining order he filed last Thursday in order to play was approved on Friday, allowing Ohio State to add him to the roster. There is another hearing set for Jan. 30.
What’s next is unclear, as he was expected to join the team Sunday.
“It’s going to take some time to get the basketball side,” Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said after Saturday’s 86–74 win over UCLA. “Right now, you and I are guessing as to when that will be.”
Johnson last played on Jan. 15, 2025, when he logged six minutes and scored three points for Penn State. He missed the last 15 games of his freshman season at UNC with a broken foot and missed significant time with a knee injury his junior season. Last season, he only played 17 games because of a heel stress fracture, a right wrist injury, a concussion and a broken right hand.
Expected to be on campus Sunday, Johnson officially appeared on the Ohio State roster on the school’s website, though without a photo.
“As far as when he’s going to get on the floor, I don’t know,” Diebler said. “He’s got to go through some things to get cleared at Ohio State. He and I have had conversations and we’re hoping to get him here as soon as we possibly can and begin that process of him becoming a part of our team.”
As for former UNC players who played last week, Vanderbilt’s unbeaten streak ended at 16 as the Commodores lost twice last week: 80–64 at Texas on Wednesday and 98–94 at home Saturday to No. 19 Florida. The Commodores fell from No. 10 to No. 15 in the new AP poll.
Nickel was 2 of 5 from 3-point range in both games, scoring 10 against Texas and 14 against Florida. Washington was scoreless for the first time this season before fouling out against the Longhorns and had 14 points and five rebounds against the Gators.
It doesn’t get any easier for Vanderbilt, which visits No. 17 Arkansas at 9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN). The Commodores (16–2, 3–2 SEC) are tied for third in the SEC.
After Cadeau went 0 of 5 from the floor, going scoreless with six assists in Wednesday’s 82–72 win for Michigan at Washington, he rebounded to score 17 points and two 3-pointers with five assists in Saturday’s 81–71 victory at Oregon. The Wolverines moved up one spot in the AP poll to No. 3.
It was only the second scoreless game of Cadeau’s career. The other was in Carolina’s 90–62 victory over Wagner in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament, when he played 19 minutes and dished out three assists.
Subscribe to read Tar Heel Tribune ad-free
Subscribe for a cleaner, smoother reading experience without the flashing banners, slow-loading elements, or those especially annoying pop‑up ads that interrupt the flow of the story. You’ll also get the first version of each story emailed to you. The only ads you’ll see are static, non-intrusive ads for UNC‑related books, and there are none currently on the site.
The Wolverines (16–1, 6–1 Big Ten) are tied for third in the Big Ten ahead of Tuesday’s 7 p.m. home game against Indiana (Peacock).
Cade Tyson’s Minnesota Gophers (10–8, 3–4) lost both games last week. Tyson scored one 3-pointer in each game, netting 14 points in Tuesday’s 78–75 home loss to Wisconsin and 15 points with eight rebounds in Saturday’s 77–67 setback at No. 13 Illinois.
Ian Jackson rebounded from a four-point, two-assist game in St. John’s 92–60 home victory over Marquette to score 18 points with two assists and two steals in Saturday’s 86–79 win at Villanova. It was his second-best scoring output of the season for the Red Storm (13–5, 6–1 Big East), which is second in the league behind UConn.
Guard Tray Crisp scored 16 points and a season-high four 3-pointers Sunday as Mississippi State (15–5, 2–4 SEC) pulled a 71–59 home upset of Kentucky (17–3, 4–2), which was playing without Teonni Key for the third consecutive game (elbow injury). That came after Crisp had eight points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the Bulldogs’ 89–84 home loss Thursday to No. 5 Vanderbilt. The Wildcats fell four spots to No. 11 in the new AP poll.
In other action in the last week for former UNC players:
— Will Shaver scored a career-high 15 points in 13 minutes Wednesday in Samford’s 77–73 home loss to Furman, then played nine scoreless minutes in Saturday’s 76–75 home loss to ETSU.
— Ven-Allen Lubin had 12 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists as N.C. State (12–6, 3–2 ACC) got upset Saturday at home by Georgia Tech 78–74 in the Wolfpack’s only game last week.
— RyLee Grays combined for six points and four rebounds as Tulsa (12–5, 4–1 American) split two games in a North Carolina trip, losing 49–48 at East Carolina Tuesday and winning at Charlotte 74–53 on Saturday.
— Paulina Paris didn’t play in either game last week for SMU (8–11, 1–6 ACC), but her injury isn’t clear. The Mustangs won 83–76 at Pittsburgh on Sunday for their first conference victory.
Elliot Cadeau, Michigan guard
6–1, 180 pounds | Junior | UNC 2023–25 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 38 games, 38 starts, 10.2 points, 41.6 FG%, 37.7 3P%, 69.4 FT%, 2.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists
Team record: 35–3; Rank: No. 3
Friday: 90–77 win Midwest Regional Sweet 16 in Chicago vs. No. 18 Alabama — Started; 33:37, 17 points, 6–14 FG, 3–8 3FG, 2–5 FT, 5 rebounds, 2 fouls, 7 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block, +15
Sunday: 95–62 win Midwest Regional final in Chicago vs. No. 23 Tennessee — Started; 34:20, 8 points, 3–7 FG, 1–2 3FG, 1–2 FT, 3 rebounds, 2 fouls, 10 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, +30
Next game — 8:49 p.m. Saturday vs. No. 2 Arizona at Final Four in Indianapolis, TBS
Trayanna Crisp, Mississippi State guard
5–8 | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 30 games, 30 starts, 8.7 points, 38.3 FG%, 37.1 3P%, 84.6 FT%, 2.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists
Team record: 18–13
Season ended with SEC tournament loss
RyLee Grays, Tulsa forward
6–4 | Junior | UNC 2023–24 (1 season)
Roster situation — One of four forwards competing for time
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.3 points, 43.6 FG%, 4–10 3FG, 69.7 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 8 blocks, 12 steals
Team record: 19–12
Season ended with loss in American Conference tournament
Ian Jackson, St. John’s guard
6–5, 195 pounds | Sophomore | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter, sharing time in a point-guard-by-committee mix
Season statistics — 36 games, 19 starts, 9.4 points, 40.9 FG%, 34.3 3P%, 90.0 FT%, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Team record: 30–7; Rank: No. 13
Friday: 80–75 loss in East Regional Sweet 16 in Washington vs. No. 1 Duke — Didn’t start; 16 minutes, 5 points, 2–8 FG, 1–7 3FG, 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, 2 assists
Season ended with loss to Duke
Puff Johnson, Ohio State
6–8, 190 pounds | Graduate | UNC 2020–23 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Reserve
Team record: 21–13
Season statistics — 9 games, 1 start, 2.3 points, 33.3 FG%, 3–7 3FG, 6–9 FT, 1.1 rebounds
Season ended with first-round NCAA tournament loss to TCU
Teonni Key, Kentucky forward
6–4 | RS senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 28 games, 28 starts, 11.4 points, 51.2 FG%, 2–15 3FG, 69.8 FT%, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks
Team record: 25–11; Rank: No. 17
Saturday: 76–54 loss in Fort Worth Regional 1 Sweet 16 vs. No. 3 Texas — Started; 31:31, 10 points, 2–8 FG, 0–1 3FG, 6–6 FT, 9 rebounds, 4 fouls, 2 assists, 2 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block, -17
Season ended with loss to Texas
Ven-Allen Lubin, N.C. State forward
6–9, 250 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting center
Season statistics — 34 games, 34 starts, 13.6 points, ACC-leading 66.8 FG%, 27.3 3P%, 73.3 FT%, 7.1 rebounds
Team record: 20–14
Season ended with NCAA First Four loss to Texas
Tyler Nickel, Vanderbilt wing
6–7, 220 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starting forward
Season statistics — 36 games, 36 starts, 13.5 points, 44.4 FG%, 40.0 3P%, 84.7 FT%, 3.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Team record: 27–9: Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Paulina Paris, SMU guard
5–9 | Senior | UNC 2022–24 (2 seasons)
Season statistics — 20 games, 12 starts, 9.6 points, 39.9 FG%, 25.0 3P%, 69.7 FT%, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists
Team record: 9–21, 2–16 ACC
Season ended with left foot injury in February
Will Shaver, Samford center
6–10, 265 pounds | RS junior | UNC 2022–23 (1 season)
Roster situation — Reserve minutes
Season statistics — 30 games, 2.6 points, 47.6 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 59.3 FT%, 2.6 rebounds, 17 blocks, 7 steals
Team record: 18–14
Season ended with loss in Southern Conference tournament
Cade Tyson, Minnesota wing
6–7, 180 pounds | Senior | UNC 2024–25 (1 season)
Roster situation — Starter
Season statistics — 31 games, 32 starts, team-leading 19.6 points, 50.0 FG%, 42.2 3P%, 82.6 FT%, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists
Team record: 15–17
Next game — 10:30 Wednesday at College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas vs. Baylor, FS1 (first game since March 11)
Jalen Washington, Vanderbilt center
6–9, 240 pounds | Senior | UNC 2022–25 (3 seasons)
Roster situation — Backup center
Season statistics — 36 games, 9 starts, 8.9 points, 56.3 FG%, 29.4 3P%, 74.1 FT%, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 blocks
Team record: 27–9; Rank: No. 22
Season ended with loss to No. 4 Nebraska in the second round of the NCAA tournament
Photo via redstormsports.com
