Cincinnati Basketball: Four-star recruit Logan Johnson commits to Bearcats

With the addition of Wichita State into the American Athletic Conference, more quality competition has been added. That means the level of recruitment must rise in quality as well.

The Cincinnati Bearcats received their first commitment for the 2018 class. Logan Johnson, a four-star recruit out of California, confirmed his pledge to the team from Twitter on Wednesday:

Logan is the younger brother of the Miami Heat’s Tyler Johnson, who received a nice $50 million contract last off-season. While Tyler is a shooting guard in the NBA, Logan plays more of the point. His 6’2, 170-pound frame suits him more at the point position anyways.

Despite being ranked by 247sports as the No. 112 prospect for the class of 2018, he had a quiet recruitment. While he did receive interest from most West Coast teams, there was a lukewarm feeling about how hard teams were going at him. Part of it has to do with the gluttony of point guards in the top 100 still unsigned, forcing teams to make a decision on who to target.

When he visited in late August, Cincinnati was part of a final four list along with UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and Saint Mary’s.

https://twitter.com/self_made2315/status/908358692524892160

Head Coach Mick Cronin and staff made a concerted effort to pry Johnson away from the West Coast, now the Bearcats will look to have their point guard of the future. Cincinnati is a blue collar type program that doesn’t get the blue-chip players, which means that they must hit a home run whenever they get quality recruits.

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In recent years, Cincinnati has looked best when ran by a dynamic guard. With Troy Coupain gone and his hopeful replacement Cane Broome only around for a year, the Bearcats will need Johnson to make an impact right away. It’s standing in the AAC will depend on it.