Louisville '23 Commit Ty-Laur Johnson Signs Letter of Intent

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville men's basketball program has received a signed National Letter of Intent from Class of 2023 commit Ty-Laur Johnson, the program announced Friday.

With the Bronx (N.Y.) Our Savior Lutheran guard inking his NLI, all nine of the Cardinals' currently committed newcomers for the 2023-24 season have now officially signed with the program. He fills out the 13th and final scholarship spot.

"I'm excited to complete our last roster spot with Ty-Laur Johnson, a very good player who has the grit and resolve to reach his potential," head coach Kenny Payne said in a release. "He's a very high-character young man who plays the game to win. Louisville fans will love his fight and determination. Welcome aboard, Ty."

The 6-foot-0, 160-pound point guard was a huge get for the Cardinals this late in the 2023 cycle when committed this past Monday. Johnson is a consensus four-star prospect by the four major recruiting services, and ranks as high as the No. 1 player in the state of New York and No. 64 overall prospect in the class according to Rivals. He was second-highest ranked uncommitted 2023 prospect, following top-five small forward Ron Holland, who backed off of his commitment to Texas last month.

Johnson is an extremely productive playmaker. While he was at school with Our Savior Lutheran, he actually played the 2022-23 season with Overtime Elite. There, he averaged 18.4 points, 5.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game during the regular season, while also shooting 36.6 percent from the field. In two playoff games, he averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.5 steals, while going 16-for-41 from the floor and 7-for-18 on threes.

During his junior season, when he was with Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict's Prep, he put up 26 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals per game, and was named an honorable mention to MaxPreps' 2021-22 Junior All-America Team. Last summer while playing with the New York Renaissance on the Nike EYBL circuit, he averaged 16.7 points, 6.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Johnson was the tabbed by The Circuit as the MVP of the EYBL's Louisville session, putting up 20.8 points, 6.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.

The 2023-24 roster will look radically different from that of last season's, which went 4-18 in Payne's first year at the helm. Seven players entered the transfer portal, with only Mike James, J.J. Traynor, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Emmanuel Okorafor being the scholarship returners for year two under Payne. Hercy Miller is also back, but has been reverted to a walk-on.

Conversely, Payne and his staff have been hard at work this offseason attempting to flip the roster and bring in fresh talent. They are set to bring in transfers Skyy Clark, Tre White and Danilo Jovanovich; 2023 prospects Johnson, Dennis Evans, Trentyn Flowers, Kaleb Glenn and Curtis Williams Jr.; plus JUCO transfer Koron Davis. According to 247Sports, their high school recruiting class comes in at No. 5 nationally, while their transfer class is 27th.

(Photo of Ty-Laur Johnson via On3)

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