BOWLING GREEN — A quick look at recent Bowling Green State University men’s basketball transfer Marcus Johnson, and one would assume that he spends most of his time near the basket.
Don’t be fooled. There’s a lot more to his game than what the 6-foot-7 forward’s physical appearance might present.
“This is my 16th year of college coaching, I’ve never seen a player like him,” Wheeling men’s basketball coach Chris Richardson said of his former player. “ … I think all coaches want to play through the strengths of their players, especially on the offensive end, and we were fortunate with Marcus that those strengths were pretty unique for a player of his size.”
Johnson, whose offensive abilities resemble more of a small guard than someone with his physique, will bring his talents from the NCAA Division II school to northwest Ohio. The Akron native, who won a pair of OHSAA state championships with St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, was one of the best shooters and scorers at the Division II level a year ago.
“I’m very excited to come to BGSU. It felt like a place where I needed to be,” Johnson said. “Obviously on the side of the playing style, it fits me well. I’m just ready to get after it.
“... I’ve waited my whole life for this moment [to play Division I college basketball], and I feel like I deserve to be here.”
Whether he is shooting step-back 3-pointers and fadeaway jumpers, or crossing over his defender and dribbling between his legs, Johnson’s array of skills with the ball in his hands is impressive.
During the 2023-24 season, Johnson ranked 14th in Division II in scoring at 21.6 points per game. He shot 47.2 percent from the floor, including 44.7 percent (67 of 150) from 3-point range, and a blistering 90.8 percent (109 of 120) from the free-throw line.
Johnson also averaged 7.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. In the 2022-23 season — his first at Wheeling after transferring from NJCAA school Parkland College — he averaged 18.5 points (48 percent shooting, 39.7 percent from 3-point range) with 7.1 rebounds per outing.
“He’s a unique talent, but he’s just an elite shooter,” second-year BGSU men’s basketball coach Todd Simon said. “... He commands a double team, he’s got a high IQ, he’s a very good passer so we can run offense through him in the middle of the floor and he can make some plays.
“So we’re really excited about all the different stuff we can do with him, and he’s got an ability to bring the ball up the floor because of his skillset. We think he can really do that.”
Johnson, who Richardson described as a “gym rat,” has worked to continue developing his skills. But he’s always had a knack for being able to shoot and handle the ball.
“Shooting has always been one of my best attributes towards my game,” Johnson said. “Just staying in the gym everyday, making sure that when I’m shooting, I’m shooting for consistency and not just getting up just an amount of shots.
“Ball handling just came to me easy at a young age. From there, I just ran with it. Constantly kept improving on my ball-handling skills. … Being able to dribble with both hands, just as good as your strong hand. Now, it paid dividends.”
One of Johnson’s best attributes while at Wheeling, which competes in the high-scoring Mountain East Conference that had nine of its 11 teams average at least 80 points per game last season, was how efficient he was for how much he had the ball, according to Richardson.
“That’s probably his greatest strength is not his shooting ability, not his passing, not his ability to score around the basket, but the efficiency with which he weaves all those different skills into the game without interrupting the flow of the offense or without trying to do too much,” Richardson said.
Simon, who helped BGSU become one of just 10 teams in the country to go from 20 losses in the 2022-23 campaign to 20 wins last season, described Johnson as “a wonderful person” who is “a perfect fit for our culture.” Johnson is one of six transfers, ranging from junior college to Division II to NCAA Division I power conference, who Simon has brought into the program in the past month.
Simon has had success in his short time at BGSU bringing in players from outside of Division I and turning them into stars, like Marcus Hill, a junior college transfer who became a first-team Mid-American Conference performer last year before recently transferring to to North Carolina State.
Richardson is expecting Johnson to make an immediate impact with the Falcons.
“I think he found a really, really good fit at Bowling Green,” Richardson said. “He’s an unbelievable kid, he’s a great student. He was a leader for us this year. He’ll be missed on campus not because he averaged 22 points a game, but because of the way he interacted with everybody and just his humility.
“Any time you move up a level, there are challenges. I think if you’re going to move up a level and play, you have to have at least one skill that will get you on the court, and the good news for Marcus and the great news for Bowling Green is that he’s got a number of skills that I think he can do that fit well with what they try to do offensively and will be an asset to them in the MAC.”
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