FORT WAYNE, Indiana — After scoring a conference-leading 566 points in his senior season, Hudson Johnson will wear the UMHB uniform one more time on Saturday afternoon.
The Salado native has been selected to the NABC Division III All-Star Game, set to take place prior to the national semifinals of the D3 NCAA Tournament at 1:30 p.m. CT inside Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. He joins former All-Region forward Ty Prince and All-American shooting guard Josiah Johnson as the three players to be named to the All-Star Game from UMHB in the last five seasons.
20 seniors compose the two rosters for the game, including NABC District 6 Player of the Year Omari DeVeaux (Virginia Wesleyan), the nation’s second and third-leading scorers in Jayden Rowe (York) and Reem Welch (Plattsburgh State), and NABC First Team All-American Marcus Montagnino (Endicott). Johnson is one of three players representing Region 10, along with Redlands’ Lucas Gordon and Concordia’s Joey Ramirez. Coincidentally, two former Texas head coaches will serve as the coaches for the two teams, with Johnson playing for former Southwestern coach Bill Raleigh’s squad. The other team will be led by longtime Trinity coach Pat Cunningham.
The fast-paced, high-scoring showcase of Division III’s best senior talent will be broadcasted on YouTube, with D3hoops.com’s Pat Coleman and Ryan Scott on the call.
The honor comes at the end of a week of incredible accolades for Johnson, who transferred to UMHB for head coach Sam Patterson’s first season in Belton after two years at Howard Payne. The 6-foot-1 shooting guard was named a D3hoops.com First Team All-Region honoree to kick off the week on Monday, making him the fifth player in program history to be selected to the first team. A day later, Johnson was named the District 10 Player of Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, as he became only the second Crusader ever to earn that honor, the first being three-time All-American Josiah Johnson. He was then selected as a First Team NABC All-American on Wednesday.
The ASC Player of the Year, Johnson averaged 20.2 points per game for UMHB, who went 21-8 with a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. His 79 3-pointers not only led the conference but also ranked 21st across D-III, as he knocked down 39.5 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. With incredible range on his shot, Johnson was a three-level scorer for The Cru, who made 27 more field-goals than anyone else in the ASC and shot 43.4 percent from the field. He also had 86 assists, tying for the team-high in that department.
In tournament time, when the stakes were highest, Johnson rose to the moment. He had 28 points against ETBU in an 89-84 ASC semifinal win, sending The Cru back to the conference title game for the third consecutive year. After scoring 12 points in the ASC Tournament final, Johnson averaged 25.5 points per game over UMHB’s two NCAA Tournament games. He put 27 on the board against UW-Stevens Point, helping give the program its first NCAA postseason win since 2023, and had 24 more in the second-round duel with Gustavus Adolphus, shooting 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
He closes his collegiate career with 1,483 career points, three All-ASC honors, and now All-American honors as a senior. Johnson will also leave UMHB having made the third-most 3-pointers in a single-season in program history.
