Former Link Academy star Tre Johnson was selected in the first round of Wednesday night’s 2025 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards after spending one year with the Texas basketball team.
Johnson was selected with the No. 6 overall pick. He spent one year in Branson and was named a 2024 Jesey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Boys’ High School All-America Second Team selection. He scored 2,563 points during his high school career, which started in the Dallas area, and was the No. 5-ranked national player out of Link.
Johnson spent his lone college season with the Texas Longhorns, where he averaged nearly 20 points per game, shooting 39.8% from the floor and 36.8% from deep. He was the leading scorer on an SEC team that lost in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament and was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Year.
Link Academy, which current McNeese State coach Bill Armstrong led at the time, made just one Springfield appearance while Johnson was on the roster. He played in a November 2023 game against Springfield Central, pitting a roster full of high-caliber Division I prospects against one of the better teams in the state, but not one that was capable of knocking off a national power.
With Johnson leading the way, Link Academy reached the Chipotle Nationals semifinals in 2024, losing to a Paul VI squad that Duke’s Darren Harris led. Montverde, led by Cooper Flagg and Derik Queen, ultimately won the championship.
Johnson joins a growing list of former Lions to be selected in the NBA Draft since the high school program’s birth in 2021. He follows Ja’Kobe Walter (Toronto Raptors), Jordan Walsh (Boston Celtics) and Julian Phillips (Chicago Bulls) as NBA Draft selections.