Ex-Husky Koren Johnson Resurfaces in Big Sky

Koren Johnson, a shining light for the University of Washington basketball team not too long ago, has re-emerged in the Northwest after signing with Portland State on Wednesday.

The 6-foot-1 Johnson -- who was named the 2024 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year -- joins his third team since leaving Montlake after unfulfilling stops at Louisville and Ole Miss.

He will share himself with a re-energized Portland State program that went 20-11 and won the regular-season Big Sky championship last season while he comes looking to get his game back on track.

Leaving the UW after Mike Hopkins was fired, Johnson played just two games for Louisville before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

He previously had shoulder surgery before ever playing a game for the Huskies, so there is a medical history there that subsequently might have affected his play.

503 🌹⚔️ pic.twitter.com/54cCtEYOd0
— Koren Johnson (@KorenJohnson3) May 14, 2026

Quite frankly, Johnson simply hasn't been his same productive self following the second injury that occured in a 77-55 loss to Tennessee.

For Ole Miss last season, he appeared in 25 games, started just once and averaged 1.8 points per outing. Pulling 9.6 minutes a game, he shot just 26.7 percent from the field and 19.4 percent from 3-point range.

Why he ended up Portland State is not a big mystery. Vikings assistant coach Jamaal Williams, who was a former UW standout and a teammate of Brandon Roy, coached Johnson as an assistant to Roy at Seattle's Garfield High School, where they all shared in a 2020 state championship.

Johnson looked well on his way to having a memorable college career in 2024 with the Huskies when he averaged 11.1 points and 2.7 assists per game for the Hopkins-coached team and received his sixth-man accolade.

"Everybody wants to be in the starting lineup and stuff, but I'm comfortable coming off the bench and getting people involved," Johnson said at the time.

He appeared in 31 games and started 5 as a sophomore that season. Coming down the stretch, he scored a career-high 30 points in an 85-65 win over Stanford. He connected on 12 of 18 shots, including 6 of 10 3-pointers.

He followed up that outburst with 21 points against USC and 23 against Washington State.

Hopefully for him, Johnson will find the Northwest basketball setting in Portland to his liking, his shoulder won't hinder his play any and he can reclaim some of that basketball promise he showed just up the road while in Montlake.

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