Que Johnson latest basketball player to leave WSU

PULLMAN – Washington State guard Que Johnsons will transfer from Washington State and play his senior season elsewhere, men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent announced on Tuesday.

“We appreciate all that Que has done for the Washington State basketball program over the last three years, including my first two at WSU,” Kent said in a release. “We are glad that he is on track to leave here with his degree from Washington State and we wish him well, both on and off the court.”

Johnson is the fourth WSU men’s basketball player to transfer this offseason and the seventh in the last two years. The Cougars went 9-23 this year, finishing the season with a 17-game losing streak.

While Johnson never turned into the star fans hoped for when he signed with WSU as one of the most highly anticipated recruits in recent memory. But he was always a scoring threat for the Cougars, shouldering much of the scoring load when DaVonté Lacy was injured during Johnson’s freshman year.

He was not a member of the basketball program his first year on campus because of academic concerns. He recently declared for the NBA draft, but was expected to return to school.

His departure will make it harder for coach Ernie Kent, who has tried to upgrade the athleticism in the WSU program over his first two years, but has already seen six players he brought into the program subsequently leave. Some players were not contributors, but others, like recent transfer Valentine Izundu, were regular contributors.

And while Johnson was not a Kent recruit, he would have likely been a valuable piece next season as Kent tries to bounce back from last year’s last-place Pac-12 finish and show recruits an upward trajectory for his program.

As a junior this past season, Johnson averaged 11.3 points per game as the Cougars’ third-leading scorer. He came on strong as the season ended, leading the Cougars in scoring in four of their last eight games, and reaching double figures in 10 of their last 12.

The Cougars now have four open scholarship spots available for next season, meaning the team could have as many as seven new players in 2016-17. The Cougars have signed incoming freshmen Jeff Pollard, Malachi Flynn and Milan Acquaah, and are expected to fill at least some of the available scholarships. Flynn is expected to formally sign his letter of intent with WSU on Wednesday.