Redshirt freshman and former Princeton forward Garrett Johnson announced Wednesday that he is transferring to GW next season, making him the first men’s basketball player to announce his decision to transfer to GW this upcoming season.
Johnson will be joined by three freshman recruits, guards Trey Autry, Jacoi Hutchinson and Christian Jones, whose signings with the program were officially announced in November. These four incoming players mark Head Coach Chris Caputo’s opening moves toward revamping the roster as he looks to significantly improve the team’s guard depth, ball handling and defense this upcoming season.
Johnson, who sat out the past two seasons in order to treat a benign tumor in his left leg, will look to play his first collegiate basketball game for the Colonials this upcoming fall. Johnson’s seasonlong injury granted him full medical hardship leave under NCAA rules, meaning he still has four full years of eligibility left to compete.
Johnson’s last full season playing basketball was in his junior year of high school, where he averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal per game in 25 games played for Episcopal High School in Virginia.
The 6’8″ forward will provide length and versatility on both sides of the court as the Colonials seek to improve their perimeter defense and inside scoring prowess.
Freshman recruit Trey Autry, who was ranked as the sixth-best high school shooting guard in Ohio last season, will also be joining the Colonials next season. Caputo says he likes Autry’s competitiveness, work ethic and ability to score the basketball.
Autry, who is the son of incoming Syracuse Head Coach Adrian Autry, said he liked how the coaching staff was invested in him and their emphasis on providing him an opportunity to get playing time early in his collegiate career.
“The coaches emphasized an opportunity to play early, which is something that I really focused on during my recruitment,” Autry told 247 Sports in October. “I also really like their vision on how they can develop my game.”
GW will also look to Hutchinson and Jones to help improve their versatility and depth at the guard position, something that the Colonials struggled with all season. After the loss of graduate student guard EJ Clark early in the season, the Colonials were essentially unable to play small ball, something that Caputo is emphasizing improvement in for the 2023-24 season.
Hutchinson, ranked 163rd nationally, is GW’s highest-rated high school recruit since 2000, and Jones was ranked as the seventh-best shooting guard in New York. Caputo praised both Hutchinson and Jones’s defensive ability, something that the Colonials are desperately trying to improve on after ranking dead last in the A-10 Conference in points allowed at 76.7 per game.
With four Colonials players announcing their intent to transfer from GW so far and senior guard and leading scorer James Bishop still mulling whether he will opt into his graduate eligibility and play another year for GW, Caputo will be dealing with a significantly altered roster as he hopes to build upon the Colonials’ most successful season in the past six years.