Texas’ Tre Johnson announces he’ll declare for NBA draft after his stellar freshman season
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Southeastern Conference freshman of the year Tre Johnson says he’s one-and-done at Texas and will enter the NBA draft.
Johnson, who made his announcement on ESPN on Tuesday, averaged 19.7 points per game to lead the SEC and broke Kevin Durant’s school freshman record with 39 against Arkansas late in the regular season.
The 6-foot-6 guard shot 39.7% on 3-pointers, 42.7% overall and 87.1% on free throws to rank among the SEC leaders. He’s projected as a consensus top-10 draft pick.
“I would just like to thank my family, first and foremost, just for keeping me grounded,” Johnson said. “And all the coaches who have coached me up to this moment and all the trainers I’ve worked out with that helped me get to this point. And all the teammates I’ve had — guys that have helped me out with a lot of different things, taking bits and pieces from their game, different advice they’ve given me.”
Johnson was a consensus top-five national recruit coming out of high school in Garland, Texas, and he made an easy transition to the college game. He scored at least 20 points in 15 of the Longhorns’ 35 games. He had 30-point games against Texas A&M and Kentucky in addition to his season-best outing against Arkansas.
His scoring average was highest by a Texas player since J’Covan Brown averaged a Big 12-leading 20.1 points per game in 2011-12. He was just the sixth freshman to lead the SEC in scoring.
Johnson said he never thought much about being a lottery pick — one of the first 14 players drafted — when he was growing up.
“I really thought about just getting a chance, one of those 60 to have a chance to play in the NBA,” he said. “That’s all I really need. To be a lottery pick, that’s even better for sure.”
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