Former North Carolina wing Puff Johnson commits to Penn State

North Carolina transfer Puff Johnson has committed to Penn State, he told On3.

“I really liked the coaching staff since they recruited my brother (Cameron Johnson) at Rice,” he said. “It is not only close to home, but the people there make it feel like home for me.”

The 6-foot-8, 200-pound junior small forward averaged 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds this season for the Tar Heels, clocking in just under 16 minutes of playing time per game. UNC finished the 2022-23 season seventh in the ACC, with an overall record of 20-13.

Johnson, a native of Moon Township, Pennsylania, will now finish out his college career closer to home, playing for new head coach Mike Rhoades and the Nittany Lions.

During the 2022-23 season, former Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry led his squad to a 23-14 overall record, ninth in the Big Ten. Over the offseason, Shrewsberry accepted the open head coach position at Notre Dame, after longtime head coach Mike Brey stepped down.

Before becoming the new head coach at Penn State, Mike Rhoades led VCU to a 27-8 overall record this season, finishing first in the Atlantic 10 conference.

Johnson is a former four-star recruit and was the No. 62 overall player in the nation from the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Puff Johnson’s older brother, Cam, played three years at the University of Pittsburgh, earning his diploma in that time before transferring to Carolina for two seasons. He is now having a successful career in the NBA, currently with the Brooklyn Nets.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Puff Johnson is headed to Penn State, transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.