Ben Johnson commits to the Catamounts

The 2025-2026 Catamounts continue to take shape with a commitment from Bellarmine transfer Ben Johnson. He is a 6'3 guard who has spent the last 4 years on the Knights roster. He was teammates with previous Bellarmine to Vermont transfer Dylan Penn during the 21-22 season (redshirt year). Since that redshirt year Johnson has put up some big numbers. He made the Atlantic Sun all freshman team in 22-23 and now sits at 937 career points and 175 made threes (at a 37% clip) in 77 career games.  This is after a prolific high school career in Kentucky where he was named Mr. Basketball in 2021. He is a flat out bucket. In the gym range and loves to play off two feet when he gets into the paint. A low turnover leader on the floor, Johnson will be able to give that Cats a big boost at both guard sports. He has also demonstrated a knack for clutch shots during his college career. Between Johnson and the TJ's, the Cats will have some lethal shooting options from deep. By the end of the season, the Cats will likely have three 1,000 point scorers at the guard position (Long: 1,070, 205 career threes at 36%, TJ Hurley: 877, 141 career threes at 38%, and Johnson). The message with this year's Catamount recruiting class is clear: the offense will be improved. This may come at the expense of some defense as that is not the strongest part of the new Catamounts' game, but the coaches are clearly prioritizing making improvements on that end of the floor. I think back to when this decade of dominance started and the quote from Becker was that he decided to "get offensive minded players and teach them how to play defense". The coaching staff is clearly leaning back into that strategy as they craft next season's roster. A really strong addition and the current roster is one that puts the Cats right back in the drivers seat for a run at a title. They still have two scholarships available and it will be interesting to see what the coaching staff does as the rotational minutes are looking pretty solid.