Louisville basketball: Brandon Johnson a transfer worth keeping an eye on

Louisville basketball has a need for a versatile big man. Could Brandon Johnson be the right fit?

College basketball transfer recruiting has become one of the only ongoing storyline producers as the sports world stands still from the fallout of COVID-19. As we’ve seen, coaches and programs have continued to recruit players even without being able to host visits or any sort of face-to-face meetings, including Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack.

We’ve detailed Louisville’s interest in a handful of transfers over the last two weeks as Mack works to fill his three available roster spots for 2020-21. One of the biggest positions of need for the Cards is in the frontcourt, as they’ll deal with the loss of starters Steven Enoch, Jordan Nwora, and Dwayne Sutton while returning only one experienced upperclassman in Malik Williams. Mack won’t suffer from a shortage of talent, as JaeLyn Withers, Quinn Slazinski, and Aidan Igiehon will all return and step into bigger roles than what we saw last season.

However, it’s clear from the rotations we’ve seen the last few seasons that Mack is still in need of a big man capable of providing experience to a youthful group as well as much needed help on the glass and inside scoring.

So far the Cards have reached out to Quinnipiac’s Kevin Marfo, who ultimately chose Texas A&M, as well as Yale’s Jordan Bruner, who cut Louisville from his list earlier this week. That left the staff with no one on the board at the four/five spot (at least from what we know) for the time being. At least until they reached out and got involved with Western Michigan forward, Brandon Johnson.

The redshirt junior announced his entry into the transfer portal on the heels of a breakout season playing in the MAC where he averaged 15.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game finishing second in scoring and first in rebounding for the Broncos. Despite an up and down season as a team, Johnson blossomed into one of the more productive frontcourt players in the conference, earning the nod as a member of the All-MAC third team thanks to his seven double-doubles and 23 double-digit scoring performances.

Coming into the year Johnson was mostly known for his ability to crash the glass, but he quickly showed a newfound ability to score the ball from outside of the paint. He went from shooting 25 three’s in 2018-19 to 66 as a junior, connecting on 33 percent of those attempts.

After entering the portal, interest for Johnson ballooned as nearly 25-plus high major programs reached out – including Chris Mack and the Louisville basketball program.

The desire to add a player like Johnson makes a ton of sense. Louisville likely has starter minutes available at the four and without Nwora and Sutton returning they desperately need a player capable of giving them a double-double on any given night next to Williams.

Johnson showed last season he was more than capable of becoming a consistent scorer, as he finished with a career-high in double-digit games, including eight games of scoring 20-points or more. Whether it be around the rim, scoring off the pick-and-pop, or even stepping out past the three-point line, Johnson is capable of doing it all and on top of that he plays with a Sutton-like motor every single possession.

As Mack looks to fill the roster with players that fit his scheme and most importantly have the mentality that’s needed to win at the highest level, he has to love what Johnson brings to the table. Johnson spoke to Eric Bossi of Rivals about what he has to offer to a program at the next level, saying:

"“I’m a coachable player,” said Johnson. “I’m a willing two-way type of player. I don’t mind if my shot isn’t falling. I can still impact the game and help to get the team win playing defense.”"

Much like with every player we’ve detailed, Johnson’s recruitment and a final decision will be heavily-influenced by COVID-19’s impact on recruiting, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be soon. Johnson told Bossi,

“I would probably say I’m petty much open. I’m hearing everybody out and seeing who is interested. By maybe Saturday or Sunday this weekend I’m going to narrow it down to like 10 teams and then in the next week or so get it down to my top three.”

Louisville has a lot of questions they’ll need to answer over the next few months as they head into the summer months, none of them being bigger than when will a recruit of any kind commit? The Cards are in the group of finalists for guards Justin Turner (read more about why Turner is the Cards’ top option) and Carlik Jones (you can read about him here) and both would be huge for next season’s roster.

While not as important in terms of need as Jones & Turner, Chris Mack will need to turn the full-court pressure on as the recruitment of Johnson winds down. His skill set is a perfect match for what’s left behind by Louisville’s frontcourt departures, and at 6’8 he’s got the positional versatility to play at the four while providing minutes at center as needed.