Marrecus Keyontae Johnson ( ; born May 24, 2000) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The team became the ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Kansas State Wildcats The Kansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Kansas State University. The School colors, official color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are gener ...

and

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

Early life

Johnson grew up in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

and originally attended Norview High School before transferring to

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

before his junior year. He played at IMG for one season before transferring again to Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia for his senior season after his head coach, Vince Walden, left the school to become an assistant coach at Arkansas State. During the Nike EYBL finals at Peach Jam, Johnson averaged 12.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. As a senior, he scored at least 18 points in 19 of Oak Hill's games. Rated a four-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

and

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

(who also rated him as a top 100 recruit), Johnson committed to playing college basketball for

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

over an offer from

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

while also receiving interest from Providence,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, Wake Forest and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

College career

Florida

In 2018, Johnson began his true freshman season as a key reserve, and eventually became the Gators' starting

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

going into the team's game against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He started the final 20 games of the season, and finished the season with 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Johnson averaged 13.7 points and 10 rebounds during the 2019 SEC men's basketball tournament, as the Gators went to the tournament semifinal. He scored 20 points and 12 rebounds in the opening round against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, a

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

. On February 26, 2020, Johnson scored a career-high 25 points to go with 11 rebounds in an 81–66 win against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. As a sophomore, he averaged 14 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game and was named first team All- SEC. On December 12, 2020, Johnson collapsed on the court in a game at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. When he arrived at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, doctors assessed him to be in critical, but stable condition. After three days in a medically induced coma at Tallahassee Memorial, Johnson was taken back to

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

for further treatment. On December 15, it was reported that he was awake, speaking, and responding to commands. On December 28, head coach Mike White announced that Johnson had rejoined the team as a coach. Johnson was announced as the honorary starter on Senior Day against Kentucky on March 5, 2022, and received a standing ovation. On May 1, he entered the transfer portal.

Kansas State

On August 20, 2022, Johnson committed to

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

. Johnson was named

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

Newcomer of the Year and joined teammate Markquis Nowell on the First Team All-Big 12. Along with Nowell, Johnson led Kansas State to the Elite Eight in the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Professional career

Oklahoma City Thunder / Blue (2023–2024)

On April 24, 2023, Johnson officially declared for the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

. With his heart issues, Johnson still needed to be cleared for contact by the NBA and did not participate in the physical components of the NBA Draft Combine. However, after being cleared by the NBA's Fitness to Play panel on May 26, 2023, Johnson officially kept his name in the draft and began working out for teams. On June 22, 2023, Johnson was drafted in the second round of the

2023 NBA draft The 2023 NBA draft, the 77th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 22, 2023, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The draft consisted of 58 picks instead of the typical 60 for the second ...

by the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

and on July 7, he signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

Greensboro Swarm (2024–present)

On September 11, 2024, Johnson signed with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

, but was waived on October 18. On October 27, he joined the

Personal life

On March 16, 2022,

Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida. History Prehistory and ear ...

police filed a sworn complaint, claiming that Johnson sexually assaulted a woman, but the case was later dropped. Alachua County court records showed that prosecutors agreed to dismiss the case.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, 9 , , 0 , , 7.4 , , .313 , , .333 , , , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 9 , , 0 , , 7.4 , , .313 , , .333 , , , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 20 , , 23.8 , , .470 , , .365 , , .643 , , 6.4 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 8.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 31 , , 31.3 , , .544 , , .380 , , .768 , , 7.1 , , 1.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020–21 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 20.3 , , .641 , , .429 , , .786 , , 4.5 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2021–22 , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 1 , , 0.0 , , , , , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022–23 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 34.1 , , .516 , , .405 , , .715 , , 6.8 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 17.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 108 , , 92 , , 29.0 , , .519 , , .389 , , .718 , , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 13.1

References

External links

Kansas State Wildcats bioFlorida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Keyontae 2000 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Norfolk, Virginia Florida Gators men's basketball players Greensboro Swarm players IMG Academy alumni Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball players Oklahoma City Blue players Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks Oklahoma City Thunder players Small forwards