KD Johnson enters the transfer portal after three seasons at Auburn

MrsTylerKSR

Auburn Tigers guard KD Johnson (0) reacts to a Johni Broome (4) block - © Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of Kentucky’s most familiar foes will be on a different sideline next year. Auburn senior guard KD Johnson will reportedly enter the transfer portal after three seasons with the Tigers. Amazingly, he still has one year of eligibility remaining.

Johnson, a former four-star recruit, started his career at Georgia in 2020 and transferred to Auburn after one season. His production dipped each year. In the 2021-22 season, in which Auburn won the SEC regular season title, Johnson averaged 12.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game, starting 31 of 34 contests. The next season, Johnson averaged 8.9 points per game, and this year, just 7.1 on a career-low 37.8% from the field. He only started one game in the last two seasons, with his playing time dipping to 17.7 minutes per game this past year.

While no one will deny that Johnson brings passion and energy to the game (to put it lightly), he’s also incredibly erratic. In his first game against Kentucky after transferring to Auburn, he scored 17 points including three three-pointers to lead the Tigers to the 80-71 win. In his past two games vs. Kentucky, Johnson averaged 6.5 points (on 6-15 shooting) to go along with 2.5 turnovers, and 1.5 rebounds. He was 3-9 for 7 points in 26 minutes in Auburn’s first-round loss to Yale.

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Where will KD Johnson end up next? John Calipari did mention bringing in veteran players from the portal on his radio show last night, but it’s hard for me to imagine Johnson in Kentucky blue and white. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

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