TOLEDO, Ohio - University of Toledo women's basketball coach Tricia Cullop announced today the addition of Jaela Johnson (Louisville, Ky. - DuPont Manual High School). Johnson becomes the fourth newcomer to join the Rockets' program in the fall of 2018.

"We're excited to have Jaela join our program," Cullop said. "She's a combo guard who can score in a variety of ways, sees the floor well and can defend. In addition to being an outstanding player and terrific person, Jaela comes from a high school program with a strong winning tradition." 

Johnson joins 6-foot-3 center Ariel Cummings (Toledo, Ohio - Notre Dame Academy), 5-foot-5 guard Sophia Fortner (Wadsworth, Ohio - Wadsworth) and 6-foot-1 forward Lexi Lance (Wadsworth, Ohio - Wadsworth) as part of UT's 2018-19 freshman class.

A 5-foot-6 guard, Johnson averaged 17.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a senior at DuPont Manual High School, garnering third-team all-state accolades from the Courier-Journal. She helped lead the Crimsons' to a 22-9 overall record in 2017-18, advancing to the 'Sweet 16' in the state tournament. Johnson was also ranked as the 10th-best player in the state in the preseason by the coaches. 

Most recently, Johnson was selected to play in the 2018 Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches (KABC)/Dawahares East-West All-Star Game at Transylvania University.    

As a junior, Johnson tallied 20.4 points per contest and once again earned third-team all-state honors from Courier-Journal. She also averaged 7.8 points as a freshman and 14.7 points as a sophomore.

"I'm happy for Jaela to become a student-athlete at UT," DuPont Manual Head Coach Jeff Sparks said. "She had a great high school career, scoring over 1,700 career points and becoming one of the most prolific scorers I've ever coached. Jaela has a bright future ahead of her, and I wish her the best of luck."