Texas Basketball: 5 best transfer portal targets at shooting guard

Marvin Johnson, SG

There are so many under-the-radar shooting guards in the transfer portal at the moment that actually bring a lot of value to the table for Beard and the Longhorns if they still want to add depth at this spot in the rotation.

A good place to start for Beard and the Longhorns to find these underrated players at the shooting guard position in the transfer portal at this point in time is the 6-foot-6 and 190 pound Ardmore, OK, native sophomore Eastern Illinois two-guard Marvin Johnson. The 2020-21 All-Ohio Valley Conference selection was solid for Eastern Illinois last season, and he could be a gem find in the portal.

Johnson is definitely one of the more impressive two-way two-guards still available in the portal at this point of the offseason. In 26 games played with Eastern Illinois last season, he averaged an impressive 15.3 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks. And Johnson shot 45.5 percent from the field, 30.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Some of the advanced metrics did paint a mixed picture as to the efficiency of Johnson last season. He had a solid 19.7 player efficiency rating, but a box plus/minus rating below zero, which isn’t great.

Johnson was a good mid-range shooter and can be an efficient catch-and-shoot threat from beyond the arc when he’s open. He shot better than 40 percent from mid-range beyond three feet from the rim last season. And on three-pointers that were assisted, he hit the looks at a clip around 40 percent.