Johnson transferring to Wisconsin

Twin tugs of playing time and family were too strong for Michala Johnson to pass up.

They pulled her to Wisconsin.

The former Montini basketball star, who earlier in the week it was reported was leaving Connecticut, confirmed Friday that she will transfer to Wisconsin. Johnson, four-time Daily Herald All-Area at Montini, must sit out next season but will have two years of eligibility remaining starting with the 2013-14 season.

At that time Michala will be joined by younger sister Malayna Johnson, now a junior at Montini who committed to Wisconsin last fall.

“It will be exciting to play with her,” Michala Johnson said. “I really didn’t get to play with her as much in high school. It will be a learning experience, us working together. Hopefully, I will be able to teach her a few things.”

Johnson first arrived at UConn as a top 50 recruit nationally but spent much of her first two years on the bench. As a sophomore this year she appeared in 26 of 38 games, playing 127 total minutes and averaging 1.5 points for a Final Four team.

At Wisconsin she will join a team coming off a 9-20 season and ninth-place finish in the Big Ten under first-year coach Bobbie Kelsey, a former Stanford assistant. The Johnsons will be two of three Illinois natives on the 2013-14 team, as ex-Bartlett star Jacki Gulczynski just finished her freshman year in Madison.

“It was a combination of things, the decision to leave UConn,” Johnson said. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could get more playing time, get close to home, get closer to my family and my sister is going there.”