Koren Johnson Settles on Louisville as Landing Spot

The former Husky guard will help rebuild a storied program on hard times.

For Koren Johnson's sake, here's hoping the former University of Washington basketball player did his homework before choosing his next destination.

On Monday, the 6-foot-2 junior guard from Seattle revealed he will transfer to once-proud Louisville, now in a major rebuild following horrendous 4-28 and 8-24 seasons that got coach Kenny Payne fired a month ago and replaced by Pat Kelsey, formerly of the College of Charleston.

This is a program that barely resembles the storied one that captured three NCAA championships, though one was vacated for improprieties on Rick Pitino's watch, and has been to the tournament 39 times.

Johnson will be asked to provide some immediate backcourt help after enjoying a sophomore season for the Huskies in which he was named Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 11.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists for a 17-15 team.

He had a sensational final month of the season, averaging 18.5 points and shooting over 50 percent overall and from 3-point range in eight games. He scored a career-best 30 points against Stanford.

His coach Mike Hopkins was fired following his seventh season at the UW, but Johnson showed little interest in playing for new coach Danny Sprinkle from Utah State and entered the portal.

Johnson is the sixth portal pick-up for Louisville. He's the second Northwest product to head to the Bluegrass State in recent days, with former UW forward Mark Pope named as Kentucky's head basketball coach.

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