Oklahoma basketball: Sooner high school star comes home to roost
By Chip Rouse
An Oklahoma basketball state champion has come home to roost.
New Sooner head coach Porter Moser on Wednesday announced the addition of Marvin Johnson, a transfer from Eastern Illinois.
The 6-foot, 6-inch senior point guard is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of the 2020 pandemic year, to return home and end his collegiate career playing for his home state Oklahoma Sooners.
Johnson played this past season for Eastern Illinois, for whom he averaged 15.3 points, 4.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game in 26 games and was a First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection. He started 22 games last season and scored in double figures in 23 games.
He played two seasons at Eastern Illinois. He began his college career at Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College after starring at Edmond North High School just north of Oklahoma City. He led his JUCO team to back-to-back NJCAA National Championships, and his high school team won the Class 6A state title his senior year in 2016-17.
When Johnson transferred to Eastern Illinois in 2019, he was rated as the No. 25 junior-college player by the JucoRecruiting.com.
Johnson will have one year of eligibility remaining. He joins an Oklahoma team that has nine newcomers and only three returning players who saw any substantive action from last season’s Sooner roster.
“I love that he’s a state champion from Oklahoma,” Moser said in a statement released by the OU athletic department. “He’s really good with the ball, and he can also be a very good defender with his length. He gives us versatility, athleticism. length and experience.”