South Carolina's Meechie Johnson to Transfer to Ohio State; Started CBB Career at OSU
April 2, 2024
Two years after leaving Ohio State to transfer to South Carolina, Meechie Johnson is going back to Columbus next season.
Johnson announced on Instagram he was transferring back to Ohio State:
Johnson went on Instagram Live last week (h/t Matt Connolly of On3.com) to announce he was entering the transfer portal:
"At the end of the day, I've got to do what's best for me and my family and that's that. But all love still with SC and everybody here. All love with the coaching staff. They took care of me since Day 1. Everybody took me in since Day 1. And at the end of the day, I had to get all of this on my own. People are going to say what they want, but I had to make a name. I had to do this. So all glory to God. And yea, I'm sorry. I'm sorry some people are going to be hurt and some people are not going to understand. But again, this is the best decision I had to make for me and my family."
Joe Tipton of On3.com reported on Monday that Ohio State, Kentucky, Arkansas and Texas A&M had already contacted Johnson after he entered the portal.
Coming out of Garfield Heights High School in Cleveland as part of the 2020 recruiting class, Johnson was a 4-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He stayed in his home state by committing to Ohio State in August 2019.
After playing primarily off the bench in his first two seasons, Johnson entered the transfer portal in April 2022. He committed to the Gamecocks to play for new head coach Lamont Paris.
The move worked great for Johnson, who was an immediate starter in South Carolina. He's coming off a season in which he averaged career-highs in scoring (14.1) and rebounds (4.1) in 33 starts.
South Carolina tied the program record with 26 wins in the 2023-24 season. It made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016-17, losing in the first round as a No. 6 seed to Oregon.
Jake Diebler took over as Ohio State's full-time head coach after finishing the 2023-24 campaign as the interim coach following Chris Holtmann's firing on Feb. 14.
The 37-year-old Diebler was an assistant for the Buckeyes when Johnson was being recruited out of high school. He led the team to an 8-3 record over the final 11 games after he took over for Holtmann.
