What Meechie Johnson’s return could mean for South Carolina
South Carolina got a boost this week. Meechie Johnson made it official he was withdrawing from the draft and coming back to school for the 2023-24 season.
The Gamecocks get one of their starting guards back, but what does it mean for next year’s team? Let’s take a look.
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From a raw numbers perspective, the Gamecocks get their second-leading scorer back, the fourth-best rebounder (best rebounding guard). He was the team leader in assists per game and the player who logged the second-most minutes last season.
Johnson averaged 13.7 points per game in SEC play, tied with GG Jackson for the team lead.
Now, on to a few more advanced metrics. Johnson was the team leader last season on Barttorvik’s metric essentially points above replacement at 2.4. He was also by far and away the team’s best in terms of assist rate.
Johnson finished with a 24.5 percent assist rate with the next best Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk at 14.4. Johnson also finished middle of the pack on the team in turnover rate at 18.8.
The guard finished with the team’s best Offensive BPR on Evan Miya, which measures offensive player value. Only Hayden Brown (1.09) and Johnson (0.43) finished with a positive Offensive BPR.
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The Gamecocks weren’t an efficient offense last season but averaged 99.1 points per 100 possession with Johnson on the floor. The only player better was Brown at 101.6 points per 100.
That certainly can improve, but it was also Johnson’s first season in college being asked to run the point.
When he comes back to South Carolina he won’t be asked to run that point guard position for extended minutes there. He might play it in stretches. But with the Gamecocks bringing in Ta’Lon Cooper to run the point it should help Johnson.
That will move him off the ball for the most part to the two-guard position and allow him to create for himself.
Johnson hit 70 of his 214 threes last season (32.7 percent). Of those, 75.7 percent came off assists. Adding a point guard who averaged over six assists per game at the high-major level should help Johnson get good looks to knock down.
If South Carolina is able to space the floor more it should allow him more space to attack the rim and get to the free throw line. Johnson shot 45.3 percent at the rim last season (7.7 percent assisted).
He only committed 2.1 fouls per 40 minutes, which is really good, but only drew 3.1.
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The Gamecocks would like to see Johnson get to the free throw line a little bit more (just 76 attempts last season). He was one of the better free throw shooters on the team: 76.3 percent overall (88 percent in SEC play).
Free throw percentage is usually an indicator of good shooters. And that 88 percent in SEC play is certainly a sign Johnson’s shooting numbers can get better heading into his second season at South Carolina.
South Carolina would like him to improve on those numbers and become a little more efficient and consistent with his jump shot.
His shooting better at the rim and getting to the line more could help and in more of an off-ball role, he won’t have the pressure of consistently having to run the offense.
Johnson averaged 13.6 points on 39.2 percent shooting (33.3 percent from three) over the final nine games of the season after Jacobi Wright began to start and handle some of those point guard minutes.
He also averaged 4.3 assists to 2.0 turnovers and brought in three boards a game.
Where Johnson will have to improve is on defense. That off-ball role could help there not have to defend point guards night in and night out. Johnson’s Defensive BPR (minus-0.66) was second worst among players with at least 250 possessions played.
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The Gamecocks allowed 104.5 points per 100 with him on the floor, the fourth-highest mark on the team. He has the athleticism to guard guys on the perimeter and should improve another year in the system.
So the Gamecocks are certainly getting a boost getting Johnson and his production back. He’s someone who can continue to improve and be put in positions to succeed in a more off-ball role after showing flashes last season.
He’ll be another ball-handler on the floor for South Carolina. But he will need to get better defensively, be more efficient and continue to improve on the consistency of his jump shot.
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