Trio of Guards Join Canes' Men’s Basketball Program
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami men’s basketball head coach Jim Larrañaga has announced the addition of three student-athletes for the 2018-19 season: Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla.), Anthony Mack (Las Vegas, Nevada) and Kameron McGusty (Katy, Texas).
Johnson is slated to graduate this summer from Florida Gulf Coast and is expected to join the Hurricanes as a graduate transfer in the fall for his senior season. Mack was injured and took a redshirt year last season during his freshman year at Wyoming. McGusty played two seasons at Oklahoma and, per NCAA transfer regulations, will sit out the 2018-19 season and then be eligible for the 2019-2020 season and have two years of eligibility remaining.
A 6-2, 195-pound guard, Johnson scored 1,344 points in his 103 career games at FGCU, making 87 starts and averaging 13.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. He was a First-Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference and Second-Team All-NABC District 3 honoree this past season. He averaged 16.1 points and 3.3 rebounds during the 2017-18 season and also was FGCU’s top defensive player, averaging 2.0 steals per game. He averaged 26.7 points over three games in the A-Sun Conference Tournament, highlighted by his 37-point outburst against Lipscomb in the championship game.
“Our first goal in our recruiting this Spring was to replace the three outstanding guards in our program – Ja’Quan Newton, Bruce Brown and Lonnie Walker. Zach fits the mold of a Miami guard who can play both guard positions,” Larrañaga said. “He will be a great addition for the upcoming season. He is a proven winner who was an all-league player in the Atlantic Sun Conference, has NCAA Tournament experience and won a state high school championship in Florida. We’re also excited to add a Miami native who was a teammate of Dewan Huell at Norland High School under Lawton Williams.”
A 6-6, 218-pound guard, Mack was a 3-star recruit by Rivals, Scout and 247 Sports. He ranked as the 51st shooting guard in his recruiting class. He teamed with current UM freshman Deng Gak in New Jersey at Blair Academy, one of the nation’s top prep schools. Mack was an All-Conference and All-State selection as a senior. During his junior season at Blair Academy, Mack averaged 12 points per game to go along with five rebounds per contest.
“We are very excited to have Anthony join our Miami family,” Larrañaga said. “I was able to watch Anthony a lot at Blair Academy when we were recruiting Deng Gak and I loved his game. Anthony is an excellent 3-point shooter with great size who can defend multiple positions. We know he has been well coached playing for Joe Mantegna and Tim Legler.”
A 6-5, 192-pound guard, McGusty was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2017 and also was a member of the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. In two seasons at Oklahoma, he played in 63 games, making 25 starts and averaging 9.4 points per game. He averaged 8.0 points per game during OU’s 2017-18 season, shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent at the free-throw line while averaging 18.5 minutes per contest. He played in 31 games as a freshman, making 17 starts and averaging 10.9 points per game. During conference play, he led the Sooners with 14.4 points (13th in Big 12), 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 30.7 minutes per game.
McGusty went to high school at Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. Coming out of high school, he ranked as the 33rd and 40th overall recruit by Scout.com and ESPN.com, respectively. 247Sports named him the fifth-best shooting guard in the 2016 class and the sixth-best overall recruit from the state of Texas. He ranked as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com.
“Kameron is following in a long line of successful transfer student-athletes here at Miami and we are thrilled to welcome him into our program,” Larrañaga said. “He has great character and personality and already fits in well with our current players and coaches. He was an All-Big 12 player his freshman year, has NCAA Tournament experience and is highly motivated to improve and help push our team during his upcoming redshirt season.”
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