Inside The Panthers

Former Pitt G Dior Johnson Lands in the Big 12

Former Pitt Panthers guard Dior Johnson will come back to Division I and join Big 12 program UCF for next season.

Dominic Campbell

Former Pitt Basketball guard Dior Johnson lands with UCF
Former Pitt Basketball guard Dior Johnson lands with UCF /

PITTSBURGH -- Former Pitt Panthers guard Dior Johnson has a new team ahead of next season, as he landed with UCF in the Big 12.

Joe Tipton of On3, reported the news that Johnson did commit and join the Knights.

Johnson came out of high school as one of the most highly touted recruits in the nation out of Southern California Academy in Corona, Calif. 247Sports, On3 and Rivals all rated him as a four-star

He had a history of not sticking with a school, as he played for nine different high schools in five states. He also committed to Syracuse in February 2020 and decommitted that November, committed to Oregon in June 2021 and then decommitted in June 2022.

Pitt would eventually land him as a commitment for their Class of 2022 just three days following his decommitment from Oregon.

Police arrested Johnson in October 2022, prior to the start of the season. He faced charges of one felony count of aggravated assault, one felony count of strangulation, one misdemeanor count of unlawful restraint, one misdemeanor count of simple assault and one misdemeanor count of false imprisonment.

The judge would drop four of the charges false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, witness intimidation and aggravated assault, but held one charge of simple assault (misdemeanor) and one charge of strangulation (felony).

Johnson plead guilty to the two lesser charges and the judge lessened the strangulation charge to a misdemeanor. He would receive a year of probation as his punishment.

Pitt suspended Johnson following the incident, but brought him back in December 2022. He redshirted the rest of the 2022-23 season and participated with the team during practices.

Johnson looked to feature as a part of the Panthers this past season, joining the team on their trip to Spain and playing in the games during it. Instead, he left prior to the beginning of the season and chose to find another team to play for.

He went the junior college route, playing for Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas. He averaged 29.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 52% from the field, 42% from 3-point range and 83% from the free throw line this past season.

Johnson received interest from a number of schools Big 12, ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big East, Mountain West and American conferences, but chose to go to Orlando and join UCF.

Pitt and UCF may play this upcoming season, as the two teams are a part of the Greenbrier Tip-Off. The tournament will take place Nov. 22-24 at The Greenbrier in Sulphur Springs, W.Va. and Wisconsin and LSU are a part of it as well.

The Panthers and Knights will play two games, so they could face in the first game, the Championship the Third Place game or not at all.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Follow Dominic Campbell on Twitter.