Johnson signs with MSU men

Jalen Johnson, a grad transfer from Louisiana, has officially signed with the Mississippi State men's basketball program.

The picture of Mississippi State's roster for next basketball season continues to get clearer.

One of the pieces of the puzzle became official on Monday as Jalen Johnson has signed to play with the Bulldogs. Johnson, a 6-foot-7 forward, is a graduate transfer from Louisiana. He also played previously at Saint Louis.

Johnson entered the transfer portal last month and drew the attention of several programs before ultimately deciding on Mississippi State. He comes to Starkville on the heels of an outstanding season with the Ragin' Cajuns.

Johnson scored a team-high 15.5 points per game and brought down 6.6 rebounds per contest last year. For his efforts, Johnson was chosen as the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year.

Here's what MSU head coach Ben Howland had to say about Johnson in a release put out by the school on Monday:

"I’m incredibly excited about Jalen joining our program and the Bulldog family. He comes to us with a tremendous amount of experience already playing three seasons of college basketball. Jalen is an outstanding shooter and scorer, and he rebounds extremely well for his size. I’m really impressed with his maturation and his intelligence. He is focused on having a great senior season as he pursues his graduate degree at Mississippi State.” 

Johnson is one of at least five additions to MSU’s 2020-21 roster. Four-star point guard Deivon Smith and three-star forward Cameron Matthews both already signed with the Bulldogs back in the early singing period this past November. Then three-star forward Andersson Garcia inked with MSU late last month ahead of Mississippi’s top-rated high school prep player, four-star Keondre Montgomery, who signed last week and can play both shooting guard and on the wing.

It’s possible, maybe even likely, the Bulldogs could have more additions soon as MSU still has two spots remaining on its roster for the upcoming season. One of those could be filled by guard Robert Woodard II if he comes back to school. Woodard has declared for the NBA Draft, but has not signed with an agent so he could return to State. However some projections have had Woodard as a first-round NBA Draft choice which would seem to diminish the chances of a Woodard return.

While Woodard’s future remains a bit cloudy, MSU’s got a little clearer Monday with the official addition of Johnson.