No. 19/19 Men’s Basketball’s Johnson named to Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy preseason watch list

ATLANTA — University of Texas Men's Basketball freshman Tre Johnson is one of 50 preseason watch list candidates for the Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Watch List presented by AXIA Time, the Atlanta Tipoff Club and Naismith Awards announced Wednesday. The Naismith Trophy is annually awarded to the nation's top men's and women's college basketball players.

Johnson was previously named one of 20 players on the preseason watch list for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award. He was the No. 5-ranked player nationally in the class of 2024 by 247 Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals. Johnson was a 2024 McDonald's All-American, becoming the 23rd player in UT program history to participate in the prestigious all-star game. A 2024 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Boys' High School All-America second-team selection, he scored 2,563 points during his four-year prep career.

During his senior season at Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), Johnson claimed 2024 MaxPreps state of Missouri Player of the Year accolades while leading Link Academy to the semifinals of the Chipotle Nationals. He averaged 15.5 points, 3.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 40-percent from three-point range and 90.5-percent from the free throw line as a senior.

Johnson played at Lake Highlands High School (Dallas, Texas) during his freshman through junior seasons. He was tabbed the National Junior of the Year by MaxPreps and Mr. Basketball in the state of Texas in 2023, when he averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while leading Lake Highlands to a 34-3 record and the UIL Class 6A state championship. Johnson converted 53-percent from the floor, including a 42-percent mark from three-point range, and 91-percent from the free throw line in his junior year. Lake Highlands claimed its first state championship in boys' basketball since 1968.

No. 19/19 Texas opens the 2024-25 season with a neutral-site contest against Ohio State on Monday, Nov. 4 as part of the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas Opening Night event. Tip is slated for approximately 9 p.m. Central (7 p.m. Pacific) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and the game will be televised nationally by TNT and truTV and streamed by Max. The Longhorns will play their home opener against Houston Christian presented by Truist on Friday, Nov. 8. Tipoff for the home opener is set for 7 p.m. Central in Moody Center, and the contest will be streamed by SEC Network+.

2024-25 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year Preseason Watch List

Player	School
Robbie Avila	Saint Louis
Ace Bailey	Rutgers
Ace Baldwin Jr.	Penn State
Oumar Ballot	Indiana
Johni Broome	Auburn
Markus Burton	Notre Dame
Walter Clayton Jr.	Florida
L.J. Cryer	Houston
RJ Davis	North Carolina
Johnell Davis	Arkansas
Tyson Degenhart	Boise State
Tucker DeVries	West Virginia
Hunter Dickinson	Kansas
Eric Dixon	Villanova
VJ Edgecombe	Baylor
Cooper Flagg	Duke
Dawson Garcia	Minnesota
Tyson Grant-Foster	Grand Canyon
Dylan Harper	Rutgers
Dajuan Harris Jr.	Kansas
Coleman Hawkins	Kansas State
Bryce Hopkins	Providence
Graham Ike	Gonzaga
Tre Johnson	TEXAS
Kam Jones	Marquette
Ryan Kalkbrenner	Creighton
Alex Karaban	UConn
Kon Knueppel	Duke
Yaxel Lendeborg	UAB
Tamin Lipsey	Iowa State
Caleb Love	Arizona
Liam McNeeley	UConn
Matthew Murrell	Ole Miss
Grant Nelson	Alabama
Ryan Nembhard	Gonzaga
Norchad Omier	Baylor
Great Osobor	Washington
Kadary Richmond	St. John's
Jeremy Roach	Baylor
J'Wan Roberts	Houston
Jaxson Robinson	Kentucky
Hunter Sallis	Wake Forest
Payton Sandfort	Iowa
Mark Sears	Alabama
Jackson Shelstad	Oregon
Braden Smith	Purdue
AJ Storr	Kansas
Wade Taylor IV	Texas A&M
Bruce Thornton	Ohio State
Zakai Zeigler	Tennessee

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

No. 19/19 Men’s Basketball’s Johnson named to Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy preseason watch list

Players Mentioned

Tre Johnson