Lamont Paris explains how reunion with Meechie Johnson came to be

Meechie Johnson has moved back and forth between Ohio State and South Carolina in his collegiate career. He’ll now be back with the Gamecocks for his final season of eligibility after re-joining them from the transfer portal a month ago.

Lamont Paris spoke about Johnson’s return to Columbia while in Summerville for the Welcome Home Tour on Monday. He said a situation like this is something we should expect because of the portal with there being a chance that a player could come back in the future. That was the case for Johnson as he reconnects with a place and program where he had success on and off the court.

“You know, it’s 2025, I mean. And, it’s just, things are different. Kids have a lot of – I call them kids. They have a lot of options. They’re trying to figure things out,” said Paris. “You know I just have had a relationship with his entire family. You know, Meechie probably called me a few times when he first got to Ohio State. It had nothing to do with anything other than he just wanted to check in with me. And, so, it’s just, we’ve had a relationship, a good relationship and, obviously, the basketball was good for him here.

“I keep telling him, I was telling him during the re-recruitment that he needs our fans and our fans need him. It was a unique relationship that he had with our fanbase and it was a really good one and he thrived and fed off of that. So, when he decided that he was going to look at going somewhere else, you know, I don’t know that some of his family members thought he had to look too far at all.”

Again, you just never know who could come back available in the future with the entries into the NCAA Transfer Portal. That worked out for South Carolina here considering how Paris left things with Johnson just last offseason.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think (burning bridges is) something you can do. I, I think it’s – I’ve never really done that anyway. I mean, you just can’t get mad when someone makes a decision that they think at the time is the best decision for themselves. May not make sense to you,” Paris admitted. “We’re grown-ups. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. And, so, I mean, but certainly, in this day and age, you can’t, can’t burn bridges. You never know when, when it may come back around again.”

Come tip-off, Johnson will have spent two seasons at Ohio State, two seasons at South Carolina, one season at Ohio State, and then one last season back at South Carolina. He has, to this point, played in 116 games, 77 of those being starts, for the Buckeyes and Gamecocks in averaging 9.2 points (37% FG, 33.1% 3PT), 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. His time in Columbia was better statistically than his time in Columbus, though, with averages of 13.4 points (38.1% FG, 32.4% 3PT on 2.1 makes), 3.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists as a lead guard who’d earn one honor as All-SEC Second Team.

Going back to Ohio State didn’t go well for Johnson with only 10 games played before leaving the program for personal reasons. He then entered the portal again with him transferring just four days later back to South Carolina. He’s now one of six transfer additions for them as one of the higher-rated among them, per the latest update to On3’s Industry Ranking to 2025’s Top Transfer Portal Players, in the Top-350 overall himself.

Johnson did well for himself in his first pair of seasons in South Carolina. That made it a clear choice for both sides when he became available again in the portal ahead of his last season.

“Again, it’s 2025, so we had to re-recruit him again,” Paris said. “Obviously, we had a good relationship and it’s, we’re excited about him coming back and being able to help lead.”