NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing final 3 teams for four-star Koren Johnson
Four-star class of 2022 point guard Koren Johnson is down to just three options. Which of them is most likely to land the talented ball-handler?
One of the top NCAA Basketball class of 2022 perimeter prospects out on the west coast is Koren Johnson. He’s a 6’1 playmaker capable of playing on and off the ball and is a solid shooter, although Johnson is best what initiating the offense.
Johnson hails from the Seattle, Washington area and plays his high school ball for Wasatch Academy in Utah. While he may not have the greatest size, the consensus four-star prospect has the scoring skills and playmaking abilities that set him up well as a future starting-caliber point guard at the power conference level.
And that may be where Johnson ends up, as the western-based recruit is down to three options; Arizona, San Diego State, and Washington. Which one of them offers the best potential landing spot? Here’s a closer look at how he’d fit with each?
Arizona Wildcats
New head coach Tommy Lloyd currently has former top-100 point guard prospect Kerr Kriisa to lead the way after not playing as much in the previous year due to visa issues related to covid. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays as the lead guard because if Kriisa struggles, Arizona will need to find another point guard.
The one factor here for Johnson is five-star point guard Jaden Bradley, who reportedly has the Wildcats and Alabama in the mix. If he picks Arizona, Johnson will have to be willing to not play much in his freshman or maybe even sophomore seasons. Otherwise, there is a path for early playing time for this recruit.
San Diego State Aztecs
The Aztecs are looking for a big-time overall class after just landing four-star forward Elijah Saunders. There’s also plenty of potential playing time for Johnson here since returning starting point guard Adam Seiko in entering his senior campaign.
The Mountain West program doesn’t have another true ball-handler on the roster outside of Seiko and 5th-year senior Trey Pulliam so Johnson could reasonably come in and start as a freshman. And as long as his defense holds up, I don’t see how he doesn’t get a ton of minutes and a featured role.
Washington Huskies
The Huskies had a complete roster turnover this offseason, adding a number of transfers both in the frontcourt and backcourt. That includes guard transfers Terrell Brown Jr. from Arizona and PJ Fuller from TCU. Fuller, who will be around a year from now isn’t a true point guard so this is also a spot where Johnson could come in and get early minutes.
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The ultimate pro here is that the Huskies are the “hometown” option for Johnson and offer plenty of playing time on a Pac-12 program. The con, however, is that head coach Mike Hopkins is squarely on the hot seat and may not even be around by the time the four-star ball-handler arrives. That’s in complete contrast with a first-year head coach in Tommy Lloyd and Brian Dutcher of San Diego State who isn’t going anywhere. That could play a big role in how this recruitment plays out.