Tennessee is trying to add someone to their 2018 recruiting class for the upcoming season, and they already have one commit and are looking to add a couple more big pieces to their 2019 class as well. But the Vols’ recruiting in basketball isn’t stopping there; Tennessee’s coaches are trying to add some highly-rated players to the 2020 class as well.
And on Saturday, they sent an offer out to an elite guard who plays ball in the state of Tennessee.
Keon Johnson is a four-star guard who plays for The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. And while he was at the Big Shots Nation event in Raleigh, North Carolina on Saturday, he picked up a scholarship offer from the Vols.
Blessed to be an offer from the University of Tennessee #GBO? pic.twitter.com/0we2qhA9oC
— Keon Johnson (@iamkeonjohnson) April 7, 2018
Though it’s still early in the 2020 recruiting cycle, Johnson is already rated as one of the best players in the class. He’s listed as the No. 79 overall player in the country and No. 1 player in the state of Tennessee in the 2020 class by 247Sports. The 6-foot-5 point guard holds offers from Ole Miss, Wake Forest, MTSU, and Florida International to go along with his Tennessee offer. He’s also visited Auburn recently. After he received his offer from the Vols, he pinned his tweet to the top of his Twitter profile.
Tennessee sent a coach to go watch Johnson play back on February 1st, and the Vols were in attendance for the Big Shots Nation event this weekend as well.
What makes Johnson stand out from other point guards? His size at 6-foot-5, for one, already separates him from most point guards. But it’s more than just his size; Johnson’s play, even as just a younger player, is at an elite level. Johnson is a tremendous defender and has a knack for picking off passes and blocking shots. He uses his defense to fuel his offense, and he has a variety of ways he can score. Johnson can nail threes, hit pull-up jumpers, drive in the lane, and has some post moves as well. He needs to improve his passing if he’s to truly work out as a point guard and not more of a shooting or combo guard, but overall he’s a very well-rounded player with an extremely high ceiling.
As a sophomore last year, Johnson averaged 25.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks a game while shooting 54.5 percent from the field according to MaxPreps. He also earned Tennessee’s Division II Class A Mr. Basketball award for his performance this past season.
Playing in Bell Buckle, Tennessee means that Johnson isn’t going up against elite schools or some of the best competition around most of the time. CPA in the mid-state area is one of the better teams The Webb School faced this season, but usually Johnson is going up against lesser competition. It will be interesting to see how he performs in camps and tournaments against other players closer to his skill level.
But regardless of that, Johnson still projects to be a high-level player and has undeniable skill. And it looks like the Vols are the clear favorite to get a commitment from him eventually.
