As the college basketball season kicked off, there was much rhetoric about Duke’s freshman phenom, Cooper Flagg, and deserving so. Flagg, who reclassified and left high school a year early, is a 17-year-old 6’9″ forward with guard-like skills. He was the No. 1 high school recruit in the country. In his final year of high school, Flagg earned the 2024 Naismith High School Player of the Year award, was named Mr. Basketball USA, won the Gatorade National Player of the Year, and was the 2022 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Flagg is undoubtedly one of the best freshman basketball players in the country, but down in the Lone Star State, there is another impressive freshman who should be on everyone’s radar. He attends the University of Texas, and his name is Tre Johnson.
Through the opening week of college basketball, the 6’6″ guard from Arlington has been arguably the best freshman in the nation. In his college debut against Ohio State, he scored 29 points, setting a new record for the most points by a freshman in their first game, previously held by Kevin Durant.
And not to compare Johnson to K.D, a two-time finals MVP and perennial NBA All-star, but Lognhorn’s head coach Rodney Terry expects Johnson to go one-and-done just like Durant did in 2006–2007.
“We had Kevin Durant here, and I’m not saying he’s Kevin Durant, but he has a lot of Kevin Durant tendencies in him,” said Terry, who was a Longhorns assistant under Rick Barnes during Durant’s lone season at Texas in 2006-07. “Don’t wait until half a year and figure out you’re only going to see him for one year. Get out here and see him right now. He has a chance to be really special.”
Jones followed up his debut performance with 28 against Houston Christian, 19 against Chicago State, and 18 against Mississippi Valley. Jones did this while leading Texas to an impressive 3-1 record. Recognizing his remarkable performance during his first week of basketball, he has been named the SEC Freshman of the Week. Over his initial two games, he has averaged a leading 28.5 points per game, along with 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals. His shooting statistics are also impressive, with a field goal percentage of 55.3 percent and a three-point shooting percentage of 55.6 percent.
Following his impressive opening week, many draft boards have classified the freshman guard as a potential top-10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Currently, ESPN’s mock draft suggests that Johnson is projected to be selected as the No. 9 overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets.
ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony provided an insightful evaluation of Johnson, focusing on his potential fit within the NBA.
“Johnson has been scorching to start the Longhorns’ season, hitting 10-of-18 3s and averaging an impressive 28.5 points per game, with one of his two outings coming against a good Ohio State team,” said Givony. “Every NBA team is looking for 6-6, long-armed wings who can make shots dynamically from anywhere on the court, giving him a big runway to build his candidacy as a top draft prospect if he can continue this momentum into SEC play.”
In discussing his transition from high school basketball to college basketball, Johnson emphasized the importance of practice in making necessary adjustments. He noted that the competitive environment during practice sessions has equipped him to face the challenges of college-level competition.
“I’m real comfortable out there,” Johnson said in Sports Illustrated. “I feel like my adjustment was mainly in practice. That’s where I had my adjustment, just going against other good players, older players, and then just what’s been going for me is just playing off my teammates.”
Along with Johnson’s hormonal play on the court coach Terry also encouraged him to embrace the challenge of being a leader in the locker room.
“I think his guys really know in that locker room that he cares about them, he cares about winning,” Terry said. “I’ve challenged him too, to be a guy that plays with some emotion and some and some flare about himself too.”
Johnson played his first three seasons at Lake Highlands HS in Dallas and was named the National Junior of the Year by MaxPreps and Mr. Basketball in the state of Texas as a junior in 2023. He played his final season at Link Academy in Branson, Missouri. He finished as the No. 5 ranked player in the country in the class of 2024 by 247 Sports Composite, ESPN, and Rivals. He earned 2024 McDonald’s All-American honors, which was the 23rd player in UT program history. In that game, he scored 17 points on 6-9 field goals, including 5-7 threes, four boards and three assists in 24 minutes for the West squad. He led Link Academy to the semifinals of the Chipotle Nationals. He was named to the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Boys’ High School All-America Second Team selection, 2024 MaxPreps State of Missouri Player of the Year, and posted 2,563 career points during his four years of high school. He averaged 15.5 ppg, 3.6 APG, and 3.3 RPG while shooting nearly 40 percent from three-point range and 90.5 percent from the free throw line in his senior year at Link, but averaged 21.8 ppg, 6.4 RPG, and 2.7 APG as a junior in 2022-23 while leading Lake Highlands to a 34-3 record and the UIL Class 6A state championship.
Coach Terry knew all along that Johnson would be a special player, and he knew that scoring would come easy for him despite him being a freshman.
“We knew when we signed this kid that Tre Johnson is one of those kids that has a chance to be as good as he wants to be,” Terry said. “The ceiling is really high for him. I’ve recruited the state a long time and there haven’t been a lot of scorers like him come out of this state, especially in the last 15 years, where scoring is easy for him.”
So far Johnson is hands down one of the best freshman players in the country. He’s projected to be one-and-done, so if you don’t want to miss something special, tune into the University of Texas men’s basketball games to catch Johnson in action before the bandwagoners.
