Texas A&M men's basketball announced the signing of veteran transfer Jalen Johnson to the 2021-22 roster on Friday.
"Jalen will be an asset for our team this year due to his experience at the Division I level and his ability to make shots," assistant coach Steve Roccaforte said. "He plays at a high level and can rebound. He will provide leadership to our team, and has the resume to back it up. Throughout his 123-game career, he has scored 1,186 points and has 536 rebounds. His skill set matches what we are looking for, and we are excited to have him join the team."
Johnson joins the Aggies after spending last season at Mississippi State where he saw action in 24 games and averaged 5.2 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. He shot 38.6 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from beyond the arc. As a redshirt senior, he reached double figures on six occasions, including three of Mississippi State's first four games in conference play.
Prior to his time in Starkville, he amassed 1,061 points and 495 rebounds in his three seasons at Saint Louis (2016-2018) and Louisiana-Lafayette (2019-20). He appeared in 99 games with 77 starts and had 11 games where he scored 20-or-more points. In 2019-20, he ranked among the Sun Belt's top 10 in points (15.5 – 6th), rebounds (6.6 – 7th), field goal percentage (42.8 – 4th) and free throw percentage (82.9 – 4th).
Johnson won three consecutive Louisiana Class 3A Championships at University Lab School in Baton Rouge from 2013-2016. As a senior he averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
The Baton Rouge native earned his undergraduate degree in communications/broadcast journalism from Louisiana-Lafayette in May 2020.