Michigan forward Brandon Johns Jr. enters name into transfer portal

Brandon Johns Jr. won’t spend the fifth and final season of his college career at Michigan.

Johns has entered the transfer portal and will explore his options after playing for the Wolverines the past four years. The 6-foot-8 forward has one year of eligibility remaining due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 waiver.

A highly touted top-75 recruit from East Lansing, Johns showed flashes of his potential at times, but it never matched his production as he struggled with consistency and confidence during his time in Ann Arbor.

This past season, Johns began the year in the starting lineup and was expected to take a step forward after his strong showing in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. However, it didn’t happen, and he eventually was relegated to a bench role behind freshman forward Moussa Diabate.

Johns played in 31 games, with nine starts, and averaged 3.2 points and two rebounds in 13.3 minutes as a senior. His shooting numbers regressed as he shot 39.7% on 2-pointers and 29.4% on 3-pointers, both career-low marks.

For his career, Johns averaged 3.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 12.6 minutes per game across 117 total appearances.

“I think many people would think of it differently as me, but I think it was a very productive and successful four years here,” Johns said after senior night on March 3.

“No matter what, whether it was positive, whether it was negative, whether I wasn’t doing so good or whether I was doing good, I feel like I really learned a lot from my coaches, my team and just a variety of different things that I never thought I would be able to say I learned. In my eyes, it was a really successful four years.”

Johns is the second Wolverine to enter the transfer portal this year, joining second-year guard Zeb Jackson, who entered the portal in late January and announced his transfer to VCU last weekend.

jhawkins@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @jamesbhawkins