D. Johnson leaves NC State, enters transfer portal

Guard Diamond Johnson is in the transfer portal, making her the third NC State Wolfpack women's basketball player to leave the program this spring.

Forward Jakia Brown-Turner is transferring to the Maryland Terrapins and center Camille Hobby is going to the Illinois Fighting Illini. The Wolfpack went 20-12 this season, losing 64-63 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to the Princeton Tigers.

Johnson was the leading scorer for NC State (12.3 PPG) but was limited to 22 games due to an ankle injury. She last played on Feb. 16, missing the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Johnson was the sixth-ranked recruit in the ESPN HoopGurlz top 100 for 2020, behind Paige Bueckers (UConn Huskies), Angel Reese (LSU Tigers), Cameron Brink (Stanford Cardinal), Caitlin Clark (Iowa Hawkeyes) and Kamilla Cardoso (South Carolina Gamecocks).

The 5-foot-5 guard from Philadelphia played her first season with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, where she was on the Big Ten's all-freshmen team. She spent the last two seasons at NC State, and was the ACC's Sixth Player of the Year in 2022, when the Wolfpack made the Elite Eight.

Johnson has two years of eligibility left with the COVID-19 waiver from 2020-2021. She currently is not listed in the portal as a graduate transfer, which would make her immediately eligible for next season. Thus, she may need a waiver from the NCAA to play in 2023-2024 since she has already transferred once.