K.D. Johnson transferring after 'pretty good' three-year run

After three seasons at Auburn, K.D. Johnson entered the transfer portal on Tuesday.

Johnson’s production peaked his first season at Auburn when he averaged 12.3 points and 1.9 steals per game on 50 percent true shooting.

Johnson's true impact this season came on the defensive side of the ball where he ranked in the 86th percentile, per Synergy, allowing just 0.749 points per possession while holding his matchups to 32.1 percent shooting.

“I want to congratulate K.D. on three years of being in the NCAA Tournament, a regular-season championship, a tournament championship,” said Bruce Pearl. “That's a pretty good three-year run.”

After averaging 27.8 minutes per game in his first season on the Plains, Johnson’s court time steadily decreased to where he only averaged 17.7 minutes a night, more than a 10-minute decrease.

And with Denver Jones coming back for his final season combined with Tahaad Pettiford, who Pearl said he plans to play off the ball, the minutes were only going to go down for Johnson.

The decision to transfer made sense for Johnson, who is entering his fifth and final year of eligibility.

“We just talked about the fact that: Would the joy of the game be more if perhaps he was someplace else and had more of an opportunity to do more of what KD does,” Pearl said. “Our discussion was really, really good.”

As for Johnson the Auburn student, he spent three years on the Plains and is close to his degree. He plans to complete it at Auburn when the time comes.

"He’s really close to his degree, and he perhaps could go someplace else and maybe get that degree in this next year," Pearl said. "But he really wants to be a unit short. He wants an Auburn degree. So does his family. When he’s done playing wherever he goes and plays, we’re going to make that happen."