The Vault Files: George Washington Forward Garrett Johnson

Meet a player with one of the best stories in all of college basketball

Garrett Johnson serves as a constant reminder that players are human too. | Photo Courtesy of George Washington University Athletics

Our newest edition of The Vault Report highlights Garrett Johnson, a George Washington commit with a story of unbelievable courage and devotion.

An Oaktown, Virginia native, the 6’8”, 210-pound Johnson was one of the most heralded products in his state for the 2021 recruiting class. He first appeared on collegiate radars at Oaktown High School- his hometown school- the Concord District Player of the Year Award in 2019 and was named to the First Team All-Region team. He then transferred to Episcopal High, a prestigious preparatory school in the nearby town of Alexandria, where he was named a Second Team All-State honoree in 2020.

After a high school career in which he eclipsed 1,000 career points and was proclaimed a three-star recruit by major recruiting platforms, Johnson chose to attend Princeton University over a field including the likes of Furman, Loyola-Chicago, Richmond, Brown, Yale, and plenty of others. With his star just beginning to shine, Johnson arrived on Princeton’s New Jersey campus in 2021-22 as a freshman with high hopes and plenty of upside.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse.

Prior to the start of the season, Johnson was diagnosed with a rare benign tumor in his left hip. He had no choice but to accept a medical redshirt for the 2021-22 campaign, undergoing a series of ineffective surgical operations. In an attempt to counteract the size of the tumor, Johnson underwent chemotherapy- a move which would hold him out of his would-be sophomore year with the Tigers in 2022-23, yet successfully shrunk the tumor.

Doctors have since permitted Johnson to resume basketball activities, yet he will not be doing so at Princeton. Instead, the DMV product will return a little closer to home, suiting up Chris Caputo at George Washington University, whom he committed to in May after entering the transfer portal earlier in the offseason.

Johnson has the talent to be a versatile wing piece for a Revolutionaries team that includes fellow transfer pieces Darren Buchanan Jr. (formerly at Virginia Tech) and Benny Schroder (Oklahoma), freshmen guards Jacoi Hutchinson, Trey Autry, and Christian Jones, and a backcourt returning two All-A10 talents in James Bishop IV and Max Edwards. It goes without saying what he can do for the team when he’s on the court- the athleticism and scoring capabilities he possesses should certainly help Caputo and company ascend to the top of the conference standings.

But he’s so much more than a player. He’s the definition of a warrior, a winner in every sense of the word- and his journey off the court should serve as a testament to all.

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