Former Auburn guard KD Johnson is heading north.

Johnson, who entered the transfer portal March 26, announced his plans to transfer to George Mason in an Instagram post Friday afternoon.

Johnson’s transfer to George Mason comes on the heels of a 2023-24 campaign that saw him average 7.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, all while averaging 17.7 minutes per appearance.

While Johnson consistently served as a catalyst for the Auburn Tigers this past season, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was honest with him at the conclusion of the season: If Johnson wanted to see more playing time in his final year of eligibility, it’d probably be best he look elsewhere.

“What I anticipated in my meetings with K.D. was that our roster in the backcourt, particularly with Denver Jones returning, it’s gonna be a bit more of the same for K.D.,” Pearl said. “In other words, coming off the bench, not quite being able to play as freely as he would’ve liked to play. There’s only so many minutes, only so much opportunity.

“We just talked about the fact that: Would the joy of the game be more if perhaps he was someplace else and had more of an opportunity to do more of what KD does. Our discussion was really, really good.”

Now, Johnson is set to join a George Mason team that just finished up a 20-12 season.

Johnson’s decision to join the Patriots brings him back to Virginia, which is where he spent his high school playing career as a graduate of Hargrave Military Academy.

When Johnson arrives to George Mason, he’ll be onboarding with the third basketball program of his college career after starting his college career at Georgia, where he spent the 2020-21 season before transferring to Auburn.

And while the days of watching Johnson play for the Tigers is over, Pearl says Johnson’s story at Auburn isn’t quite finished.

“KD Johnson will return to Auburn to receive his degree when the time comes,” Pearl said.

“He’s really close to his degree, and he perhaps could go someplace else and maybe get that degree in this next year. But he really wants to be a unit short. He wants an Auburn degree. So does his family. When he’s done playing wherever he goes and plays, we’re going to make that happen.”