Inside The Huskies

Koren Johnson Commits to Another UW Season, Needs Something in Return

The Seattle guard should be ready to become more of a focal player for the Huskies.

Dan Raley

In this story:

Right about the time Fairleigh Dickinson was getting ready to pull the upset of all NCAA Tournament upsets and humble top-seeded Purdue and its 7-foot-4 center, Koren Johnson provided the University of Washington basketball team with a March victory.

In 103 characters, the 6-foot-2 freshman guard from Seattle tweeted out how he planned to play once more for the Huskies in 2023-24. 

"Can't wait to run it back next year with my brothers!" Johnson shared in his lead-in.

It was show of solidarity from a most important basketball commodity for the UW's perpetual hot-seat coach Mike Hopkins — even with all the drama and no postseason to speak of, this locally produced playmaker with considerable skill and confidence has invested himself in spending another season in Montlake. 

Now for Hopkins, the message here is fairly clear: Don't screw this up.

Start Johnson next to Keyon Menifield and live or die with that backcourt. 

Most coaches would kill for it. 

Even if Noah Williams comes back for one more year, commit to these young guys and make it NCAA Tourney or bust with them and let the veteran simply supply the back-up.

Hopkins hasn't been very good lately at keeping players, especially offensive-minded guards, in Seattle long and this is his chance.

Or did you not notice how a smooth-looking RaeQuan Battle for Montana State dropped 27 points on Kansas State in a tourney game on Friday night, or how Marcus Tsohonis cut loose for 46 points for Long Beach State this past season or how Erik Stevenson led West Virginia in scoring.

All ex-Huskies, all guys who left Hopkins behind because they felt their games were greatly constrained under his guidance, all people who could put the ball in the basket.

Now the coach will enter a seventh season at the UW with a chance to enjoy the fruits of the talented Johnson and Menifield simply by putting them on the floor and getting out of their way. 

SPECIAL K :: Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

Koren Johnson played in 29 games as a freshman for the Huskies and looked liked he belonged. 

GUARD DUTY / UW

Freshman guards Koren Johnson and Keyon Menifield were both Pac-12 Freshman of the Week recipients.

BACKING IN :: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Koren Johnson showed off all sorts of offensive moves while averaging 6.8 points per game for the 16-16 Huskies. 

STRAIGHT SHOOTER / Skylar Lin Visuals

With a picture-perfect jumper, Koren Johnson averaged just about 40 percent on his field-goal attempts. 

GATEWAY TO ALASKA / Skylar Lin Visuals

Koren Johnson played at a high level at times in Alaska Airlines Arena, especially against Stanford with a 15-point, 4-assist and 3-steal outing.

ALL HE SEES IS PURPLE :: Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Koren Johnson played in purple as a high schooler at Garfield and now wears the same shade well for the Washington Huskies. 

YOUTH MOVEMENT / Skylar Lin Visuals

Koren Johnson, far right, meets with his coach and fellow Husky teammates, most of them freshmen, during a timeout. 

GIVE IT BACK :: Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

Koren Johnson closed out his freshman season with a 15-point outing against Colorado in the Pac-12 tourney, demonstrating plenty of hustle.

SHOULDERING A LOAD :: Rob Gray/USA TODAY Sports

Koren Johnson had preseason shoulder surgery that he had to overcome before getting his college career started at the UW.

If Hopkins can't advance to the NCAA tournament a year from now with these two guards handling the ball for him, taking it to the hoop hard or firing up jumpers around the perimeter, then he clearly doesn't deserve to be coaching the Huskies. No more lifelines. No more excuses. Results only. 

Johnson came off offseason shoulder surgery to appear in 29 games and average 6.8 points per outing. He shook off that intrusion to his basketball health, went through the usual freshman adjustment process and got better as the season went along.

Unlike his 16-16 UW team, which lost its last three outings, the former Garfield High standout finished very strong, with four double-figure scoring efforts turned in over the final five games.

He showed what he could do at midseason by leading a sweep of the Bay Area schools with 15-point games against each of them and earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.

Johnson finished up as the first man off the bench for Hopkins, but he needs to receive a firm starting commitment from the coaching staff for his hometown loyalty and obvious talent.

It's not that hard. It's up to this coach to pull together the promising pieces such as Koren Johnson and win with them. 

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley3

Have a question, direct message me on Facebook or Twitter.

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Basketball