Louisville picks up commitment from a former G League player

by: Zack Geoghegan6 hours agoZGeogheganKSR

Dec 22, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; NBA G League Ignite guard London Johnson (2) dribbles the ball during the first half against the Greensboro Swarm at Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Get ready to see more and more of this: a former NBA G League player is headed to play college basketball.

According to multiple reports, 21-year-old guard London Johnson has committed to play college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals as a member of the 2026 recruiting class. Johnson has spent the last three seasons as a member of the G League, first playing for the Ignite team in 2022-23 and 2023-24 (where he was coached by current Kentucky assistant Jason Hart) before spending the 2024-25 season suiting up for the Cleveland Charge and Maine Celtics.

So technically, Johnson will have three years of professional experience under his belt before ever playing a college game. A 6-foot-3 guard, the Georgia native averaged 3.1 points in 14.4 minutes per outing on 40 percent overall shooting last season.

G-League guard London Johnson has committed to Louisville, a source tells @On3sports.

The 21-year-old floor general spent last season in the G League with the Maine Red Claws and Cleveland Charge.

He’s expected to have two years of eligibility remaining.… pic.twitter.com/rviukINwUb
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) October 20, 2025

Just a few years ago, this kind of move would have been unheard of. But the new college basketball landscape has opened up a giant can of worms — and the rules are more confusing than ever. The NCAA set a precedent for this last month when it ruled that Thierry Darlan, who spent the 2024-25 season with the NBA G League’s Delaware Blue Coats and Rip City Remix, had been cleared to play this coming season at Santa Clara.

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With Johnson, he will reportedly enroll at Louisville during the middle of the school year but is expected to sit out the entire 2025-26 season. He’ll officially be cleared to play for the Cardinals in 2026-27 with two years of eligibility remaining. Johnson was originally a four-star recruit out of the 2022 cycle, but opted for the G League over the college route at the time.

The optics of an American who played multiple years professionally in the United States before making the move to college will certainly drum up plenty of debate. But in reality, it’s not all that different than what Kentucky — and other schools across the country — are already doing with international prospects. UK sophomore big man Andrija Jelavić is a 21-year-old who came over from Croatia and has multiple years of pro experience to his name.

The key part to note here is that none of Johnson, Darlan, Jelavić, or any other college players with professional experience have played in any actual NBA games. Johnson and Darlan only saw action in the G League, the NBA’s developmental program. Which brings up the question: What would happen if someone who played in an NBA game tried to return to college? It certainly feels like that situation is coming sooner rather than later.