Incoming KU basketball freshman in 2023 class requests release from letter of intent

Former Montverde Academy combo guard Chris Johnson has asked out of his national letter-of-intent with Kansas, coach Bill Self confirmed to The Star on Saturday.

Johnson, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound native of Fort Bend, Texas, committed to KU over Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi last August. Kentucky and Auburn also had expressed interest at the time of his commitment.

The former Houston Defenders AAU player signed a letter-of-intent with KU on Nov. 9, 2022. 247Sports’ Eric Bossi wrote on Twitter on Saturday afternoon that Johnson had asked for his release. Self confirmed the news to The Star shortly after the post.

A KU Athletics official did not respond to a request for comment, and Self did not specifically state whether or not Johnson would receive his release, but such requests are typically granted in today’s state of college basketball.

“What I really loved about Kansas is that they really let their guards hoop,” Johnson told SI.com of choosing the Jayhawks. “They like guards who can guard 1–4, and that’s me all day. They want me to go out there and be myself.”

Johnson was an AAU teammate of KU freshman Jamari McDowell, who has reported to campus for the start of summer school Tuesday.

At the time of Johnson’s signing in November, Self said: “Chris is a very good high school player out of Houston who transferred his senior year to be at Montverde. In the short amount of time he’s been there, we understand his game has just grown tremendously. ... He’s also a guy that can play point guard. He’s 6-4 and much like Elmarko (Jackson, incoming guard), very versatile, can score, get his own shot but at the same time be a distributor. The thing that people rave about with him is that he could be an elite defender, an elite collegiate defender.”

Johnson is ranked No 40 in the class of 2023 by Rivals.com and 72 by 247Sports.com. He’s No. 43 by ESPN.com.

KU has 10 players on scholarship and four walk-ons (including a recent addition) on the 2023-24 roster. KU could add as many as two scholarship players from the portal before the season if Self wishes to do so.

The scholarship players on the roster: returning starters Kevin McCullar, Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams, incoming freshmen Marcus Adams, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell and transfer portal additions Parker Braun, Hunter Dickinson, Nick Timberlake and Arterio Morris (Texas).

KU has walk-ons in Justin Cross, Michael Jankovich, Wilder Evers and Dillon Wilhite.