“The kid plays hard”: John Calipari predicts more success for Tre Johnson on the court after Arkansas beats Texas
John Calipari's Arkansas picked up a 78-70 win over freshman guard Tre Johnson and Texas on Wednesday, but the seasoned head coach couldn't ignore the dominant performance of the freshman.
Johnson put up 25 points for the Longhorns and also contributed five rebounds and four assists, all above his season averages. Calipari pointed out Johnson's performance postgame.
“I’ve recruited Tre since he was a sophomore, so I know he and his family well, and I’ve watched him grow,” Calipari said. “He’s become more athletic, but for getting baskets. He does. And we were planning, if he had it going, we were going to trap. Somebody else is beating us, not him, and we kept the game at a distance, so we didn’t."
Tre Johnson is just at the beginning of his college career, and Calipari is confident in the young guard's future.
“He’s going to fill out. He’s going to get stronger," Calipari said. "The kid plays hard, you know? I mean, he’ll get more physical. The one thing I’m going to tell you in our game right now, there’s a premium on being able to score baskets … I think they’re doing exactly what they should do, create space and let him go get buckets for you, because they’re demoralizing.”
Tre Johnson contributing to Texas in freshman campaign
Tre Johnson was the top scorer for the Longhorns against the Razorbacks, recording over one-third of the team's total points. The guard also led Texas in scoring in the next contest, an 86-78 loss to Vanderbilt. This season, he's averaging a team-best 19 points per game, 37th in the NCAA.
As Calipari mentioned, he recruited Johnson during his tenure at Kentucky. The No. 6 prospect from the 2024 class also received offers from Kansas, Baylor and Alabama but ultimately chose to remain in his home state of Texas.
Texas coach Rodney Terry commented on Johnson at the beginning of the season.
“I’ve been recruiting the state of Texas a long time," Terry said. "Twelve years here at Texas, and Tre Johnson is one of the best guards I’ve seen in the state of Texas, and that’s pretty lofty in terms of the guys that we were able to get while I was here in the previous tenure.”
In his first year with the Longhorns thus far, Tre Johnson has made 22 starts, averaging 33 minutes per game. Texas hasn't had a standout season, with a 15-9 record and the last notable win coming against No. 15 Missouri on Jan. 21. However, Johnson has had a solid freshman season so far and, as Calipari said, will likely continue to get better as his career progresses.