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GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 25 • 18 BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF R onnie Johnson, Purdue's start- ing point guard the past two seasons, is transferring. Coach Matt Painter, in a phone call to the junior-to-be Sat- urday afternoon, granted him a release from his scholarship, with his paperwork to be sent to him via e-mail. The move is the end result of what was a weeks-long process. Gold and Black has learned that Johnson's family put the word out long ago that Johnson would be available to recruit following the season, this all coming after Painter met with the family in De- cember. It is unknown how much impact that meeting had on John- son and his family's decisions to transfer. Cincinnati and Memphis are among the schools expected to be factors in Johnson's re-re- cruitment. Ronnie Johnson is the young- er brother of outgoing senior Terone Johnson. Ronnie Johnson and father Terone Johnson Sr. did not reply to requests for comment. Johnson, though, posted on Twitter, "Boiler nation will always be a part of me, and also thank you to everyone who supports me! And good luck to my boys in the future." As part of Purdue's announce- ment, Painter gave the standard statement, "Ronnie has expressed his interest in transferring from our program and we have grant- ed him his release. We wish Ron- nie the best of luck as he contin- ues to pursue his education and basketball career." Johnson started all but one game this season and averaged 10.8 points and recorded a team-high 117 assists. He started as a true fresh- man the season prior, av- eraging 10.3 points as a rookie. In two seasons, Johnson started 59 of Purdue's 66 games, av- eraging 28.2 minutes in 2013-14. When asked follow- ing Purdue's season-end- ing loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament whether he expected to return, Johnson replied affirma- tively. "I haven't talked to anybody about it," he said when asked if he planned to not return. His departure leaves Purdue with just five scholarship play- ers slated to return: juniors-to-be A.J. Hammons and Rapheal Davis and sophomores Basil Smother- man, Bryson Scott and Kendall Stephens. And it leaves the Boilermakers in a potentially difficult position at point guard, where it will return Scott, who struggled in the role during the Big Ten sea- son. When Painter was asked recently whether he still projected Scott as a point guard long-term, he said, "Good question. I don't know," before elaborating about Scott's need to make better decisions. Purdue has added a commitment from another incoming freshman in In- dianapolis' P.J. Thompson, who'll join big men Isaac Haas and JacQuil Taylor, forward Vince Edwards and shooting guard Dakota Mathias in next season's freshman class. TWO BOILERMAKERS HONORED Purdue did not have a player named All-Big Ten for the first time since 2005-06 but did have two earn other honors. After leading the league in blocked shots and finish- ing second in rebounding, Hammons was named to the conference's All-Defen- sive Team. Point Guard Transferring Tom Campbell After starting for the majority of his first two seasons at Purdue, point guard Ronnie Johnson is transferring. vertime m e n ' s ba s k e t ba l l : n e w s a n d n ot e s THE ONES WHO HAvE CHOSEN TO LEAvE Below is a list of the players who have started games and made the choice to leave the program for one reason or another during the Matt Painter Era. (Games played/starts). 2005-06 Chris Lutz (62/34) Nate Minnoy (13/12) 2007-08 Scott Martin (32/8) 2009-10 Sandi Marcius (75/13)* 2010-11 Anthony Johnson (68/10) 2011-12 Donnie Hale (32/8) Jacob Lawson (58/14) 2012-13 Ronnie Johnson (66/59) Notes: This list does not include players who were dismissed from the program prior to their departure. *Marcius had one year of eligibility remaining. According to the NCAA report, approximately 40 percent of all men's basketball players depart their initial school after their sophomore year. By our count, Painter's program is slightly under the average as nine of 25 (36%) play- ers that were recruited as freshmen left the program after their second year.