Ohio State transfer Meechie Johnson announces commitment to return to South Carolina

Ohio State transfer guard Meechie Johnson is once again going from Columbus to Columbia after announcing his commitment to transfer back to South Carolina in an Instagram post Tuesday afternoon.

This will be Johnson’s second stint with the Gamecocks after spending the 2022-24 seasons in Columbia, where he had his best two seasons in college basketball averaging 13.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 63 games at South Carolina.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Johnson averaged 9.1 points, 2.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds in just 10 games this past season with Ohio State, where the Cleveland-native began his collegiate career (2020-21). Johnson sat out the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to personal reasons, though should qualify for a redshirt and thus be eligible to play in 2025-26.

Meechie Johnson returns to South Carolina as the No. 174th-ranked transfer in the 2025 class, according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. Johnson played high school basketball at Andrews Osborne Academy, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 161 overall recruit in the 2020 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Johnson explained his decision to return to Ohio State for what was expected to be his final collegiate season to be closer to family.

“The first time, it just wasn’t going how I wanted it to I guess,” Johnson said of his decision to return. “It was not ideally what I wanted. I did not want to leave. It wasn’t ultimately my decision to want to leave. To be able to come back, it was everything. Like I said, I was able to come and play with a good guard. There are a lot of places I could have went around the country.

“But knowing Bruce [Thornton] and what he wanted for himself and for this team and for this program, where I’m from. I always wanted to get to a tournament, which I’ve done before here, but to go far it just everything made sense. We were able to get on the same page with Coach and we feel like he has put together a good roster for us to go far. But like I said, that was then and this is now. I’m just excited for what’s ahead.”

Johnson is the fourth Ohio State player to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal since it opened a week ago, joining fellow guard Evan Mahaffey, center Austin Parks and forward Aaron Bradshaw.

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

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.