Texas Longhorns Guard Raising NBA Draft Stock with Each Game

Texas guard Tre Johnson has put college basketball on notice with premier shot-making.

Nov 29, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson (20) during the first half against the Delaware State Hornets at Moody Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Through just a handful of games, Texas Longhorns guard Tre Johnson has been one of the bigger surprises of the college basketball season. His athleticism, shot-making and pure scoring instincs have been on display each and every game.

And on Wednesday night, in a win against North Carolina State, he continued that trend.

The 6-foot-6 five-star scored a team-high 18 points, adding two rebounds with his only blemish being an uncharacteristic four turnovers. The Longhorns outlasted the Wolfpack by just four points, improving to 7-1 on the season.

Johnson shot 47% overall and 67% from 3-point land — continuing to somewhat feed into concerns about his ability to generate paint touches and his at-rim finishing — still finishing with respectable efficiency.

Coming into the game against North Carolina State, Johnson had averaged an elite 21.1 points on 48% shooting. He connected on 42% of his seven attempted triples per game, adding 2.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.7 steals per game.

While those numbers likely won’t hold through conference play — which will feature a rigorous SEC schedule for the Longhorns — they would quite easily make him a top-three selection in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Even as the numbers dip, Johnson will have a chance to be the first top-five selection for Texas in some time. Jaxson Hayes was the last Longhorn selected in the top-10 at No. 8 in 2019. Tristan Thompson was selected at No. 4 in 2011.

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