High-scoring guard K.D. Johnson headed to transfer portal, latest blow to Georgia men’s basketball

Georgia freshman guard K.D. Johnson entered the transfer portal Tuesday night, the latest of many departures from the men’s basketball program since the end of the 2020-21 season.

Georgia recently lost several major contributors. It started with guard Tye Fagan, who is now at Ole Miss, and star guard Sahvir Wheeler has also left Athens. Wheeler was the only player to record a triple double in history of men’s basketball at the University of Georgia.

Another big hit occurred when Georgia lost big man Toumani Camara to the Dayton Flyers. In this era of college basketball, transfers are not all that uncommon. However, the mass exodus out of Athens, for the second consecutive year in the Tom Crean era, is alarming.

Crean, with a 41-49 overall record at Georgia going into 2021-22 season, will be firmly sitting on the hot seat in Athens. Johnson had been a spark plug off the bench for the Bulldogs. His high energy and effort helped him average 13.5 points, second on the team, last season.

While Georgia ranked a distant 10th in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage at 32.4 percent, Johnson helped that average by hitting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc. As a budding star, Johnson seemed like the last great hope for the Bulldogs. Now Johnson has become the ninth player to enter the transfer portal for the Bulldogs this offseason.

Even in the transfer era, a basketball program needs stability to be successful. Under Crean, the Georgia program seems to be more unstable than ever. Couple that with the lack of success for Georgia in recent years — on a current run of five straight years missing the NCAA Tournament —  Crean faces constant criticism from fans.

“Given the standards of Georgia basketball, we wholeheartedly agree with K.D.’s desire to seek a new program,” Crean said in a release. “We certainly wish him the best and hope he finds success in all areas moving forward.”

Tony Walsh