Sidiki Johnson is a name that most college hoops fans should be at least somewhat familiar with.
A former top 100 big man, the New York native originally enrolled at Arizona but managed to last just a semester -- while playing only seven minutes -- out west before being suspended for a violation of team rules and eventually leaving the school. He enrolled at Providence in February and was on track to become eligible to play in December.
But a wrench was thrown into those plans today when Brian Snow of Scout.com posted on the site’s premium Providence message board (the link is here, but if you don’t have a subscription you won’t be able to see it) about the possibility of Sidiki Johnson transferring out of Providence, possibly to Iona. He later posted that nothing is yet official, but that the goal is for Johnson to land in the MAAC.
But here is where it gets interesting: multiple people have reported that Johnson is not leaving Providence. Adam Zagoria tweeted that Bernard Bowen, who is Johnson’s godfather and mentor, told him that Johnson was not leaving Providence. He also has a source at Iona that hadn’t heard anything about the transfer. Zagoria isn’t alone; three other credible sources said that Johnson is not transferring to Iona.
So what’s the answer?
At this point, it is tough to know. Johnson would clearly be a monster addition for the Gaels. But with Kris Dunn and Ricardo Ledo entering the program this season and transfers Crason Derosiers (Wake Forest) and Tyler Harris (NC State) becoming eligible next season, the future was bright for the Friars. Losing Johnson would definitely be felt.
There had been rumors of Johnson not being in good standing at Providence swirling around Providence message boards and twitter feeds. This will likely be a story that we will need to keep an eye on.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.