'23 PG Ty-Laur Johnson Commits to Louisville

The top-70 Class of 2023 prospect decommitted from Memphis last month.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The last open scholarship for the Louisville men's basketball program's 2023-24 roster has been finally been filled, and it's going to another elite prospect.

Bronx (N.Y.) Our Savior Lutheran guard Ty-Laur Johnson, one of the top available prospects in the Class of 2023, announced Monday that he has committed to the Cardinals.

Johnson originally gave his verbal pledge to Memphis last November, but never signed a National Letter of Intent, and later decommitted back on Apr. 24. He also holds offers from Creighton, DePaul, Mississippi State, NC State, St. John's and VCU.

The 6-foot-0, 160-pound point guard is a huge get for the Cardinals this late in the 2023 cycle. Johnson is a consensus four-star prospect by the four major recruiting services, and ranks as high as the No. 1 player in the state of New York and No. 64 overall prospect in the class according to Rivals. He was second-highest ranked uncommitted 2023 prospect, following top-five small forward Ron Holland, who backed off of his commitment to Texas last month.

Johnson is an extremely productive playmaker. While he was at school with Our Savior Lutheran, he actually played the 2022-23 season with Overtime Elite. There, he averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game during the regular season, while also shooting 36.6 percent from the field. In two playoff games, he averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 steals, while going 16-for-41 from the floor and 7-for-18 on threes.

During his junior season, when he was with Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict's Prep, he put up 26 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals per game, and was named an honorable mention to MaxPreps' 2021-22 Junior All-America Team. Last summer while playing with the New York Renaissance on the Nike EYBL circuit, he averaged 16.7 points, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Johnson was the tabbed by The Circuit as the MVP of the EYBL's Louisville session, putting up 20.8 points, 6.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

Not only is Johnson a talented pickup for Louisville, he fills a massive need for Louisville. Prior to his commitment, the only true point guard on the Cardinals' roster was Illinois transfer Skyy Clark.

Among other factors, a lack of quality guard depth played a significant role in Louisville going just 4-28 in head coach Kenny Payne's first year at the helm last season. Now, the Cardinals have two good options at the point, on top of several talented options at the two-guard spot that could potentially play on the ball as well.

The 2023-24 roster will look radically different from that of last season's. Seven players entered the transfer portal, with only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor being the scholarship returners for year two under Payne. Hercy Miller is also back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.

Conversely, Payne and his staff have landed nine newcomers. They are set to bring in transfers Clark, Tre White and Danilo Jovanovich; 2023 prospects Johnson, Dennis Evans, Trentyn Flowers, Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams Jr.; plus JUCO transfer Koron Davis. According to 247Sports, their high school recruiting class comes in at No. 5 nationally, while their transfer class is 27th.

(Photo of Ty-Laur Johnson via On3)

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