Former Ohio State guard Meechie Johnson Jr. found a new — or, perhaps more aptly, old — home on Tuesday when he announced on Instagram that he is transferring back to South Carolina after just one season with the Buckeyes.
“These past couple months were one of the hardest times in my life,” Johnson wrote in an Instagram story that included a picture of him celebrating a win with South Carolina fans during his last stint with the Gamecocks. “Not even knowing if I wanted to do this anymore, and just when I thought it was over God just restored me.”
Johnson returns to the Lamont Paris-led Gamecocks just four days after entering his name in the transfer portal for the second consecutive season following a bizarre one-and-done season with Ohio State that had him play just 10 games (all starts) and log 28.9 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds per game before leaving the team and not returning due to what he described was an urgent mental health issue.
“I was just going through a lot mentally,” Johnson told The Columbus Dispatch in a story published on March 26. “Mental health is serious. It’s something I’ve dealt with my whole life. It was something that definitely was affecting me. It was my life. There was a lot going on, and basketball being something that you use to be an outlet, I just didn’t feel like myself mentally. I just had to focus on my mental health. That was that.”
Johnson’s departure turned detrimental to the Buckeyes from a depth standpoint, especially towards the end of the season, when they dropped five of their last seven games to miss the NCAA tournament for the third straight season for the first time since 2002-05.
Due to him playing just 10 games last season, Johnson earned an extra year of eligibility through a mental health hardship waiver, which he will use to finish out his six-year collegiate career on a South Carolina program that he called home from 2022-24.
Johnson had his best years of his college career with the Gamecocks during those seasons, averaging a combined 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists across 63 games (62 starts). He most notably led the Gamecocks to their first NCAA tournament berth in seven seasons his senior year in 2023-24, a year in which he also earned a second-team All-SEC honor after totaling a team-high 14.1 points along with 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
With Johnson going back to South Carolina to play his final collegiate season, the former Buckeye will have played for two different teams across four separate stints during his six-year collegiate career. Johnson’s career started at Ohio State in 2020-21 as a 17-year-old reclassified freshman, and he played two seasons with the Buckeyes and averaged 4.4 points and 1.2 assists per game before transferring to South Carolina, then back to Ohio State, and now back to South Carolina again.
“Going back to the same two schools twice this isn’t what I imagined nor thought my career would be like, but I serve a perfect merciful and graceful God and I know this is his journey for me,” Johnson wrote on Twitter on April 1.
Johnson will now look to return to the NCAA tournament and close out his collegiate career on a Gamecocks team that is coming off a disappointing 12-20 season and 2-16 mark in the highly-competitive SEC.
