What Koren Johnson Brings to Louisville

Here's what the transfer from Washington brings to the table for the Cardinals.

Feb 22, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Washington Huskies guard Koren Johnson (0) / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With how much of a focus is on guard play in this era of men's college basketball, having a backcourt full of playmakers is of the utmost importance if you want to win.

On Monday, the Louisville men's basketball program and new head coach Pat Kelsey took a large step forward towards building out their backcourt, landing a commitment from former Washington guard Koren Johnson. With his commitment, the Cardinals officially have a healthy starting five of scholarship players for the 2024-25 season.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound shooting guard spent the first two years of his collegiate career in Washington, and is coming off of his best season after earning Pac-12 Sixth Player of the Year honors. Johnson averaged 11.1 points, 2.7 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals over 31 games and five starts, while also shooting 44.1 percent from the field and 37.3 percent on three-point attempts.

The Seattle native was a four-star prospect coming out of high school, and ranked as the No. 17 combo guard and No. 132 prospect in the Class of 2022 by the 247Sports Composite. In his freshman year for the Huskies, he averaged 6.8 points and 1.8 assists over 29 appearances all off the bench.

But beyond his stat lines, what else does Johnson bring to the table for the Cardinals?

One of the first things that stands out when watching him is just how fast he is. Whether on or off the ball, Johnson is not only lightning quick whenever he gets going. He doesn't have quite the stop-and-go capabilities you would expect from someone that athletic, but he's still pretty shifty.

Because of this, Johnson excels on downhill drives to the basket from the wing. Whether that's on a euro step or spin move in isolation, in transition or off of a ball screen from the wing, once he has even the slightest opening, he will attack it. Additionally, Johnson is solid finisher at the rim, making 56.0 percent of his two-point shots in the paint.

A good chunk of Johnson's overall plays come off of the pick-and-roll. 28 percent of his field goal attempts come as the ball screen handler, and he'll use screen to both drive to the rim or get an open three off. He's actually got a decent midrange jumper off of the screen as well. On top of that, some of his best passes are to the screening big man.

As far as shooting three-pointers goes, Johnson absolutely has a preference as to where he takes them. He shot just 26 percent on threes left above the break, 33 percent on threes right above the break, and a blazing 48 percent on right corner threes. If he gets a wide open look from the right corner, there's a very good chance that shot is going in. He's more efficient at spot-up three-pointers than catch-and-shoot threes, but that's to be expected.

For someone who is more of a two guard than a one, Johnson is a pretty good passer, especially to aforementioned screening big men and on dump-offs on the drive. That being said, he can be turnover prone at times, averaging 2.2 last season and having a career 1.48 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Defensively, he's the perfect system fit for the defense that Pat Kelsey runs. He hounds the ball carrier at the point of attack, even if that is well beyond that perimeter. Since he's so lightning quick, he doesn't have a problem with keeping his man in front of him, and he seems to get everywhere on the court. His steal percentage of 2.82 percent ranked ninth in the Pac-12.

On top of everything, Johnson is someone who played his best basketball down the stretch instead of stat-padding in the non-conference slate. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.6 rebounds over the final eight games of the 2023-24 season, including shooting 51.0 percent from the field and an insane 52.4 percent from deep.

Overall, this is a very good pickup for Louisville. He fits Pat Kelsey's system on both ends of the floor, has good (if not underrated) power conference experience and production, and appears to be ready to take on a starting role at the two guard spot.

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