Freshman phenom, future lottery pick Tre Johnson begins his March Madness opportunity

Even if it’s in the First Four, freshman Tre Johnson will have the chance to play in March Madness.

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A shoo-in lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, Johnson will depart for professional basketball as soon as the Texas season is done. But by making the NCAA Tournament’s First Four, Johnson’s season isn’t finished quite yet. And as a result, one of the best players in the nation will have his opportunity to make his mark and have his one shining moment.

“I was just grateful overall to have the opportunity,” Johnson said Tuesday. “And most guys don’t get to say in my position that they were able to play in the tournament, and with this group just means a lot for us to make it for sure.”

Johnson’s right. Recent Texas one-and-dones Jarrett Allen and Jaxson Hayes didn’t get opportunities to play in the NCAA Tournament. Mo Bamba and Greg Brown III both were eliminated in the first round, signifying that extended tourney runs are no guarantee for great NBA talents.

But with his team’s full allotment of players available, Johnson has a chance to create a lasting memory in the dance.

“I feel like it’s a breath of fresh air because of having everybody back, knowing we’re at full strength and there’s no excuses, just going out and playing as hard as we can with our new depth back,” Johnson said.

Johnson was the SEC’s leading scorer in 2024-25, outpacing All-Americans like Auburn’s Johni Broome, Alabama’s Mark Sears, and Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. He was the conference’s freshman of the year, a second-team All-SEC selection, and an all-freshman team member.

Johnson without a doubt is heading to the NBA after this year, but he’s given everything he’s had during his 32 college games. Texas head coach Rodney Terry was effusive in his praise for Johnson, spending multiple minutes during his Tuesday press conference on Johnson. Terry said Johnson accepted hard coaching from the Longhorns staff because of the strong relationships built between the coaches and the star 6-foot-6 shooter.

“Do you want me to coach you to be a freshman and have just a good freshman year, do you want me to coach you to be Freshman of the Year, or do you want me to coach you to be one of the best players in the country?” Terry said. “There were moments throughout the course of the first part of our tenure coaching young Tre Johnson that he had to come to grips with that.

“I thought that he really embraced that and said ‘coach, I want you to coach me to be one of the best players in the country.’ Is that demanding? Is that holding him accountable to another level other than just a freshman? Yes. I think he embraced that.”

Even on a veteran team with six players set to exhaust their eligibility, Johnson has stepped up not just as a player, but also as a teammate. That has the old-heads confident they’re playing their final college seasons with a star in the making.

“He’s one of the most confident players I’ve ever been around,” Kadin Shedrick said Tuesday. “He has a lot of good things going for him off the basketball court that helps set him up for success on the basketball court.”

There’s maturity with Johnson. He said Tuesday his favorite pregame song is “I Gotta Find Peace of Mind” by Lauryn Hill, a song released four years before he was born. He’s taken the coaching from Terry and company and has elevated himself into a player that should be taken within the first five picks of the draft.

That’s been seen in his recent play, save for an outlier performance against Oklahoma. At the SEC Tournament, Johnson scored 19 points versus Vanderbilt, 20 points versus Texas A&M, and 11 points against Tennessee. He’s put his name close to Kevin Durant‘s for a number of Texas freshman records.

Johnson’s hope, and Texas’ for that matter, is that the star freshman from Lake Highlands can make a mark in the larger NCAA Tournament. Texas needs to get past Xavier in the First Four for that to happen.

If it does, it’ll likely be on the back of a player who had lofty expectations entering the year.

“We expected him to be freshman of the year in the league,” Terry said. “We expected him to be one of the best players in the league. And he lived up to the billing.”

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By living up to that billing, Texas is in March Madness and Johnson has a chance to shine in the NCAA Tournament.