“Trust the process”: College hoops fans react as Isaiah Johnson joins third team in single year

NCAA Basketball: Miami at Virginia Tech - Source: Imagn

Isaiah Johnson was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruit class. He committed to the Miami Hurricanes in November 2023 before enrolling at the school before the 2024 season. He had limited playing time as a freshman, only appearing in eight games for an average of 5.4 minutes.

He is now on his third team in a year due to circumstances beyond his control. Johnson entered the portal after Miami head coach Jim Larranaga stepped down. He committed to Iowa shortly after, but Hawkeyes' head coach, Fran McCaffrey, was fired soon after. This led him to re-enter the transfer portal.

Isaiah Johnson finally appears to have a team that he can stick with. On Saturday, it was reported by On3 that he has committed to St. Thomas.

This strange journey with three teams in a calendar year drew the attention of college basketball fans. They reacted to his latest commitment on Instagram.

"Trust the process," one fan wrote.

"Breaking news St thomas head coach leaves for Indiana," one fan joked.

"“Factors out of his control” :(," one fan added.

Fans continued to discuss the move in the comments on Instagram.

"Kid just needs some stability," one fan wrote.

"Woo hoo!! Love it," one fan commented.

"Tell the world that he’s coming home," one fan added.

Images via comments of the Instagram post.

Isaiah Johnson should get more of an opportunity at St. Thomas in 2025

Although Isaiah Johnson has been thrust into an unfortunate situation because of unforeseen circumstances, he has an interesting opportunity ahead of him at St. Thomas.

At Miami, he was playing for an ACC team that was always going to have a deep roster. As a result, getting playing time was going to be challenging for a sophomore who did not show much to the coaches as a freshman.

He would have been in a similar situation at Iowa in the Big Ten. Now, joining St. Thomas, he has an opportunity to start and build his resume.

St. Thomas plays in the Summit League, finishing second in the conference last season. It is far below the caliber of a Power Four conference team. As a result, Isaiah Johnson should get plenty of playing time. He can showcase his skills as a sophomore, and by the end of the season, potentially transfer back to a Power Five school.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec