Johnson Earns Bid to Portsmouth Invitational
Apr 14, 2026 | Men's Basketball
The senior was the only Wildcat to start all 32 games this past season.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Wildcat Nate Johnson has received a bid to play in the Portsmouth Invitational, which is set for Wednesday-Saturday, April 15-18 at Churchland High School in Portsmouth, Va.
Operating since 1953, the Portsmouth Invitational is one of the preeminent NBA pre-draft camps with approximately 200 NBA representatives in attendance. The four-day tournament consists of 12 games with 64 invited college seniors playing on eight teams of eight players.
Fans can watch the games of the Portsmouth Invitational online here.
Johnson will be playing for Norfolk Sports Club coached by Craig Frost, Jim Corrigan and Shaniece Sims on a roster that includes a familiar face in UCF's Themus Fulks. They will be joined by Tennessee's Felix Okpara, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn, Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler, FIU's Corey Stephenson, Michigan's Nimari Burnett and North Carolina's Seth Trimble.
Johnson and Norfolk Sports Club open play in the tournament on Thursday (April 16) at 5 p.m., CT vs. Portsmouth Partnership, which precedes a game between Portsmouth Economic Development and Mike Duman, Inc. The losers of these games will meet on Friday (April 17) at 2:30 p.m., CT, while the winners will play at 7 p.m., CT. The rest of the tournament can be found here.
Johnson and Fulks will be joined at the tournament by fellow Big 12 players Donovan Atwell (Texas Tech), Melvin Council Jr. (Kansas), Riley Kugel (UCF), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Anthony Roy (Oklahoma State) and Tre White (Kansas).
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound guard from Liberty Heights, Ohio, Johnson played one season for the Wildcats in 2025-26 after 3 seasons (2022-25) at Akron, totaling more than 1,200 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in his college career.
For the season, Johnson averaged 12.8 points on 44.7 percent (138-of-309) shooting, including 40.8 percent (64-of-157) from 3-point range, to go with 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals in 32.7 minutes per game in starting all 32 games. He was the only Big 12 player to average better than 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals this past season.
Johnson scored in double figures in 22 of 32 games played with 4 games of 20 or more points. He scored a career-high 33 points vs. Baylor on Feb. 17 on 11-of-16 field goals, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, to go with 9 assists and 6 steals. He is the first Wildcat and just the seventh Division I player to record a stat line of at least 30 points, 9 assists and 6 steals.
Johnson led the team in assists (146), steals (71) and free throw percentage (85.0), while he was second in scoring (408), field goals made (138) and 3-point field goals made (65). He finished among the top 20 nationally in both steals (20th) and steals per game (2.2 spg./17th), as his 71 steals rank third on the single-season list behind Markquis Nowell and Barry Brown Jr. His 146 assists also tied for the 10th-most in a single season.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.
Operating since 1953, the Portsmouth Invitational is one of the preeminent NBA pre-draft camps with approximately 200 NBA representatives in attendance. The four-day tournament consists of 12 games with 64 invited college seniors playing on eight teams of eight players.
Fans can watch the games of the Portsmouth Invitational online here.
Johnson will be playing for Norfolk Sports Club coached by Craig Frost, Jim Corrigan and Shaniece Sims on a roster that includes a familiar face in UCF's Themus Fulks. They will be joined by Tennessee's Felix Okpara, Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn, Michigan State's Jaxon Kohler, FIU's Corey Stephenson, Michigan's Nimari Burnett and North Carolina's Seth Trimble.
Johnson and Norfolk Sports Club open play in the tournament on Thursday (April 16) at 5 p.m., CT vs. Portsmouth Partnership, which precedes a game between Portsmouth Economic Development and Mike Duman, Inc. The losers of these games will meet on Friday (April 17) at 2:30 p.m., CT, while the winners will play at 7 p.m., CT. The rest of the tournament can be found here.
Johnson and Fulks will be joined at the tournament by fellow Big 12 players Donovan Atwell (Texas Tech), Melvin Council Jr. (Kansas), Riley Kugel (UCF), Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State), Anthony Roy (Oklahoma State) and Tre White (Kansas).
A 6-foot-3, 215-pound guard from Liberty Heights, Ohio, Johnson played one season for the Wildcats in 2025-26 after 3 seasons (2022-25) at Akron, totaling more than 1,200 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in his college career.
For the season, Johnson averaged 12.8 points on 44.7 percent (138-of-309) shooting, including 40.8 percent (64-of-157) from 3-point range, to go with 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals in 32.7 minutes per game in starting all 32 games. He was the only Big 12 player to average better than 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals this past season.
Johnson scored in double figures in 22 of 32 games played with 4 games of 20 or more points. He scored a career-high 33 points vs. Baylor on Feb. 17 on 11-of-16 field goals, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, to go with 9 assists and 6 steals. He is the first Wildcat and just the seventh Division I player to record a stat line of at least 30 points, 9 assists and 6 steals.
Johnson led the team in assists (146), steals (71) and free throw percentage (85.0), while he was second in scoring (408), field goals made (138) and 3-point field goals made (65). He finished among the top 20 nationally in both steals (20th) and steals per game (2.2 spg./17th), as his 71 steals rank third on the single-season list behind Markquis Nowell and Barry Brown Jr. His 146 assists also tied for the 10th-most in a single season.
How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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