Texas Basketball: 5-Star CG AJ Johnson decommits, signs with NBL
The tough week for newly-hired full-time head coach Rodney Terry and the Texas basketball program continued on the morning of April 13. Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony of ESPN reported early in the day on April 13 that Texas is losing the elite five-star combo guard signee AJ Johnson to Australia’s NBL.
Johnson reportedly told ESPN this week that he signed a deal with the Illawarra Hawks of the NBL in Australia and that he decommitted from the Longhorns. This is the same team in the NBL that the Charlotte Hornets star point guard LaMelo Ball played for during the 2019-20 season before he was selected third overall in the 2020 NBA Draft.
This is obviously a huge loss for Terry and the Longhorns. He has now potentially lost every single guard from last year’s team ahead of the 2023-24 season, depending on what happens with sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter.
Texas basketball loses 5-Star CG AJ Johnson to the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks
Hunter declared early for the 2023 NBA Draft while maintaining his collegiate eligibility.
The news of Johnson decommitting from Texas to sign with the NBL’s Hawks is surprising. Just one week ago, we heard about Johnson re-affirming his commitment to arriving in Austin in June for the start of the summer semester during a visit that Terry took to see the five-star California combo guard signee on a visit (per Inside Texas).
One of the biggest tasks for Terry and his staff heading into the offseason was retaining the two elite five-star signees in the Longhorns 2023 class from the high school ranks. It looks like five-star Duncanvillle forward Ron Holland is still locked in with Texas for the time being.
But Johnson will be taking his talents elsewhere, leaving Terry and the Longhorns with just one five-star signee in the 2023 class early this offseason. Terry and his staff clearly have a lot of work to do in the portal this offseason to start rebuilding this roster that has a lot fewer pieces returning and coming in from the high school ranks than originally anticipated just a few weeks ago.
Next. 3 portal bigs Texas has made contact with. dark
Johnson is a five-star combo guard recruit out of Southern California Academy that originally committed to Texas last fall over offers from the Louisville Cardinals, LSU Tigers, Kansas Jayhawks, and USC Trojans. He is projected by ESPN to be the 13th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft in their latest mock.