Former University of Louisville forward Brian Johnson has transferred to Mississippi State, as announced last Wednesday by MSU head basketball coach Rick Stansbury.
A native of Laurinburg, N.C., Johnson averaged 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game a year ago for coach Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals.
Having averaged 10.3 minutes of action per contest in 30 games played as a redshirt freshman, he shot 54 percent from the field.
He shot 64 percent from the line in 2005-06.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward capped last season with a 13-point, 13-rebound performance against Clemson followed by a nine-point, 10-rebound effort versus Missouri State in National Invitation Tournament play.
Having started in five of the last 10 games a year ago in place of the injured David Padgett.
Johnson averaged 4.8 points and 5.5 rebounds, along with 16.5 minutes per outing, in U of L’s last 10 contests of the 2005-06 campaign.
Johnson, who will sit out the 2006-07 season due to the NCAA’s transfer rules, received a medical redshirt season at Louisville in 2004-05 after a third knee surgery in six months on Nov. 19, 2004 forced him to the sidelines.
As a 2003-04 teammate of former Kentucky standout guard Rajon Rondo at prestigious Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., Johnson averaged 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game as a prep senior in helping lead coach Steve Smith’s 38-0 Warriors to the nation’s top ranking in the USA Today high school poll.
The former top-30 national prospect and second-team Street & Smith’s All-American also connected on 66 percent of his field goals and 69 percent of his charity tosses as a senior.
Prior to completing his prep career at Oak Hill, Johnson helped lead Bishop O’Connell High School to a three-year composite record of 72-25, including a 30-7 overall record and Virginia Independent Schools state title as a sophomore in 2001-02.
As a junior, he averaged 15.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and two blocked shots per contest to earn Washington Post All-Metropolitan honors and help pace coach Joe Wootten’s 2002-03 Knights to a 25-5 mark, No. 21 final national ranking and a No. 6 South Region ranking by USA Today.
Following his junior campaign, Johnson participated in the 2003 USA Basketball Men’s National Team Trials and was named a finalist for the 2003 USA Junior World Championship Team.