Tag: meechie johnson

Ohio State basketball starting guard taking a leave of absence

A tough loss #GoBucks

The Ohio State men’s basketball team will be without a starting member for the foreseeable future. Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch reported that Meechie Johnson has taken a leave of absence for personal reasons according to a team spokesman. It is unclear how long Johnson will be away from the team.

The news broke before the Buckeyes game with Valparaiso on Tuesday evening. Up to that point, Johnson had started the previous 10 games, averaging 9.1 points per game while shooting nearly 36 percent from the three-point line.

Johnson spent his first two years in Columbus before transferring to South Carolina where he starred for two seasons. He decided to enter the transfer portal at the end of last season and landed back in the place where his collegiate career began, stating he wanted to be closer to home.

USAToday SMG

Johnson’s absence will most definitely be felt on the floor as Ohio State prepares to take on Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday.

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All-SEC guard Meechie Johnson to withdraw from NBA draft, transfer to Ohio State

South Carolina junior Meechie Johnson Jr. will reportedly withdraw from the 2024 NBA draft and transfer to Ohio State.

South Carolina junior Meechie Johnson Jr. will reportedly withdraw from the 2024 NBA draft and transfer to Ohio State, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

Johnson was among 201 players who filed as an early-entrant candidate for the draft. He declared while maintaining his remaining college eligibility and will join Ohio State after playing the past two years at South Carolina.

The 6-foot-2 guard was named to the All-SEC second team this past season after averaging 14.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 39.9% shooting from the field. He registered 10 20-point games, including a season-high 29 points and five rebounds on Nov. 28.

Johnson, who is from Cleveland, played the first two years of his college career with the Buckeyes. He announced last month that he’d return to Columbus if he opted against staying in the NBA draft and will play for first-time head coach Jake Diebler.

He projects to be a big addition to the Buckeyes next season. He joins Sean Stewart (Duke), Micah Parrish (San Diego State) and Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky) by transferring to the team, while the program also added recruits Juni Mobley and Colin White.

The Buckeyes finished 22-14 this past season, including 9-11 in conference play, and look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.

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Ohio State basketball sees transfer guard Meechie Johnson return

Johnson returns home to the Buckeyes. #GoBucks

Just a few years ago, guard [autotag]Meechie Johnson[/autotag] was viewed as a building block for Ohio State basketball.

Although he played sparingly during his freshman season, he started to break through during his sophomore year, setting up a big junior campaign. Unfortunately, that never happened as Johnson transferred to South Carolina where his career really took off.

Johnson saw statistical increases in virtually every category while with the Gamecocks, but after their season ended, he entered the transfer portal. Almost immediately he was linked to return where his collegiate career started, and on Tuesday it became a reality as he committed to Ohio State.

Again.

Part of his reasoning for returning was that he has always been a Buckeye, along with the way the program is trending now that Jake Diebler has taken over. We are extremely excited to see Johnson back in the Scarlet and Gray.

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Kentucky in contact with South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson

Kentucky has contacted South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson

For the college basketball teams not in the Final Four, including the Kentucky Wildcats, the transfer portal is big news. Coach John Calipari has potentially lost one player to the portal already, and could lose more.

Kentucky has reached out to other transfers as well, including recently to a transfer from an SEC foe. Meechie Johnson, a guard from South Carolina, has received interest from several schools, including the Wildcats.

Johnson led the Gamecocks in scoring this past season, with 13 points per game. He also had 4 rebounds and 3 assists per contest, and was the leader on the court for South Carolina, helping get them into the NCAA Tournament.

Multiple teams have contacted Johnson, including Texas A&M and Arkansas out of the SEC. He would bring experience and an ability to score to wherever he winds up.

It’s still early in the process, and Kentucky has reached out to a few different players. Coach Cal will be seeing who will be around next year, and will certainly add a player or two from the portal. Could Meechie Johnson be one of them? Big Blue Nation will have to wait and see.

Former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson in transfer portal, potential to return to Buckeyes

Could he be returning to the program? #GoBucks

The transfer portal can be a crazy place these days, but it’s not often that a player that transfers to another school gets linked back to his original landing spot out of high school.

In the case of former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson, that appears to be a possible reality after the South Carolina player entered the transfer portal for the second time. You’ll most likely remember that Johnson left the OSU program after his sophomore season and landed in Columbia for the last two seasons.

This year, he helped lead the Gamecocks to the NCAA Tournament as the team’s leading scorer with 14.1 points a contest but is now back in the transfer portal according to multiple reports.

So, where will he land? There are rumblings that Johnson may be thinking about a return to Columbus and new head coach Jake Diebler. If that did happen, it would seem to be a good fit. Johnson knows the culture and would add to what many hope is a lot of returning talent on a team that seemed to figure things out at the end of the season.

Of course, nothing is giving in the brave new transfer portal and name, image and likeness universe, but we’ll continue to keep an eye on where this thing goes as Johnson has one year of eligibility remaining.

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South Carolina leading scorer Meechie Johnson enters the transfer portal

South Carolina is losing its leading scorer to the transfer portal.

The South Carolina men’s basketball team is losing one of their top players to the transfer portal.

Gamecocks’ leading scorer, Meechie Johnson, announced Monday that he is entering the transfer portal, likely ending his time at South Carolina. Johnson was the Gamecocks leading scorer this past season, leaving a large vacancy for the program.

Meechie earned All-SEC honors this past season, averaging 14.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.

“Coach Paris has been very impactful in my life and my development, and that is my guy forever, but all being said, I will be entering the transfer portal and will also consider testing the NBA Draft waters.”

Johnson looks for greener pastures elsewhere.

Notre Dame goes cold, falls to South Carolina in ACC/SEC Challenge

You can’t win if you can’t keep scoring.

Notre Dame and South Carolina aren’t the fastest teams in the country, so it was appropriate for them to match up in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Most of the game made it seem like the visiting Irish could pull off a win over the undefeated Gamecocks. But the offense stopped coming, and the Irish lost, 65-53.

The majority of the game was competitive, and the Irish (3-3), who scored eight unanswered points at the start, had a 40-38 lead at the 6:14 mark of the second half. Then, they stopped making shots, ad the Gamecocks (6-0) went on a 13-1 run to go up by double digits and didn’t look back. The Irish never got closer than six the rest of the way.

Meechie Johnson led the Gamecocks with 29 points, including four 3-pointers, and had five rebounds. B.J. Mack had 17 points.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] was the Irish’s leader in points (15) and rebounds (eight). [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] contributed 11 points, and [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] added 10. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] dished out five assists but committed a game-high six turnovers, and eight points made it the first time in his young career that he failed to reach double figures in scoring.

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Meechie Johnson chooses transfer destination

Meechie Johnson is headed down south. #GoBucks

Former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson is transferring to the South Carolina Gamecocks. The announcement game via Johnson’s Twitter account after the 6-foot, 2-inch, 172-pounder entered the transfer portal earlier this month.

Johnson is a former four-star prospect from the Cleveland area that originally committed to the Buckeyes for the 2021 class but reclassified and joined Ohio State midway through the 2020-2021 season to provide some much-needed depth at the guard position.

Johnson never really carved out a significant role with Ohio State. Some of it was because of injury, but also because of some inconsistent play when he was available and on the court. Still, more of it was because of others that stepped up for the Buckeyes through acquisitions through the transfer portal. He averaged just 3.2 points per contest during his two seasons in Columbus.

Now, Johnson will be furthering his career elsewhere and will still have three years of eligibility left should he decide to use them all. We’ll continue to keep close tabs on what Johnson can do down in sweet tea and grits country.

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Meechie Johnson has entered the transfer portal

In case you missed it, the transfer portal continues to spin and grind.

If your head wasn’t already spinning with how much change the Ohio State basketball roster was needing to undergo in the offseason, it probably is now. That’s because guard Meechie Johnson has entered the transfer portal according to multiple reports.

The move is a little bit of a curious one because Johnson was thought to be a guy that was on the shortlist of returning players that had a great shot at nailing down either a starting spot — or at the very least — some significant minutes on next years OSU squad.

However, Ohio State has been very active in the transfer portal, already bringing in guard Tanner Holden from Wright State while also being linked to several other players. It may have been all too much for Johnson to feel comfortable with where his place on the team was.

In reality, despite Johnson stating that playing for Ohio State was a lifelong dream, he will now depart early after spending two years in the program. He reclassified originally to join the 2020 class and had some bad luck with injuries this past season, appearing in 26 games. He averaged just 4.4 points per contest during the 2021-2022 season and struggled shooting the ball consistently.

His departure means OSU will likely have to continue to work the market for more guard play after also losing Justin Ahrens, Cedric Russell, Jamari Wheeler, and Malaki Branham all in one way or another.

We wish Johnson nothing but the best.

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Jamari Wheeler, Meechie Johnson both game time decisions for Minnesota game

Hopefully, these two can go and Ohio State can keep pace with the top of the Big Ten.

The Ohio State basketball team gets back in action Thursday night when it travels to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It’ll be OSU’s first game since it ran IUPUI off the court last Tuesday. The Buckeyes were supposed to play this past weekend, but their game against Nebraska was shelved because of COVID-19 protocols within the Huskers’ program.

If Ohio State is going to win, it may have to do it while being a little rough around the edges. Both Jamari Wheeler and Meechie Johnson will be game-time decisions according to head coach Chris Holtmann.

Wheeler, the team’s main ball-handler, point guard, and defensive annoyance for other teams, has been dealing with a foot injury that has limited his time in practice said Holtmann. Wheeler is averaging 7.1 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals per contest in 29.8 minutes per night.

Johnson has been unavailable the past three games after suffering a facial fracture and concussion in practice leading up to the Wisconsin home game. He has come off the bench to provide a boost at times, averaging 6.6 points per game.

The game against Minnesota will be a key contest the Buckeyes need to win in order to keep pace at the top of the league. You can catch all the action starting at 8 p.m. EST.

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