Texas men’s basketball head coach, Sean Miller, knew that prioritizing his starting point guard heading into his second year on the Forty Acres would be crucial for his team’s success.
“We gave that a lot of thought because that position is so important,” Miller said on Sept. 21. “If you’re trying to build a program for the top prize, it’s the one common theme that we’ve all seen through the history of college basketball. The point guard position usually gets that team to the end.”
With the importance of a point guard understood, Miller landed on sophomore guard Isaiah Johnson to be the new leader of his system.
Johnson transfers in from Colorado following his freshman season, where he earned an honorable mention in the All-Big 12 Conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Mountain District First Team selections.
The new Longhorns point guard made a name for himself in one of the toughest basketball conferences in the country. Johnson led the Buffaloes in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game, ranking third in the Big 12 and 13th nationally among Division I freshmen.
Johnson was not the biggest-name high school prospect coming out of Campbell Hall High School in Los Angeles, being ranked as the No. 33 point guard in the class of 2025 by 247Sports.
However, Johnson proved he can compete with top prospects as a freshman, as he saw the under-recruited label not as a limitation but as a glass ceiling he’s broken.
“(I) definitely proved something,” Johnson said on Sept. 23. “I felt like being able to play on the Big 12 stage was pretty good for me, and all the eyes were on that big of a stage. Just being able to go out there and compete with the guys that were recruited over me was pretty good.”
With Miller as a head coach, Johnson gets to learn how to run the point from a former point guard, as Miller was a standout at the position during his college basketball career at Pittsburgh from 1987-92.
And Johnson is already picking up pointers from his head coach.
“Definitely learned how to command a group, be a vocal leader out there because (Miller is) definitely a vocal guy himself,” Johnson said. “And the IQ aspect of it, watching film with him and teaching me little things and stuff like that, has been big.”
The players around Johnson are beginning to acclimate to Miller’s system that is now run by Johnson, as David Punch, a fellow transfer and junior forward, highlighted what makes the point guard a dynamic player.
“It takes a lot of pressure off me,” Punch said. “He gets the ball up and down the court super fast. He makes the right decisions, and for a point guard, I feel like that’s very important.”
While overlooked coming out of high school, Johnson showcased his talents in his freshman campaign.
Johnson is no longer flying under the radar and is expected to make major contributions for the Longhorns, and Miller believes the sophomore has another level he hasn’t reached yet.
“This past year at Colorado, he was 18 years old,” Miller said. “That’s remarkable to think about the single season he had in a great conference … when you have somebody that age, I feel like their ceiling is higher.”
