Recruiting Report: Houston Johnson (2017)
Rising junior Houston Johnson is looking forward to getting back on the court after another injury setback. After putting together a strong summer on the grassroots circuit with Kansas City-based MoKan, Johnson was looking forward to a bounce back year from…
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Continue ReadingRising junior Houston Johnson is looking forward to getting back on the court after another injury setback.
After putting together a strong summer on the grassroots circuit with Kansas City-based MoKan, Johnson was looking forward to a bounce back year from an injury plagued sophomore season.
After transferring to Willard prior to last season, Johnson struggled with injuries and put together something of a lost season as he missed a host of games. With him out of the line-up, a young Willard team often struggled, winning six games and going 6-19 overall and 4-3 in the COC.
But the 6-foot-5 rising junior said he hopes to put injuries behind him and has been hard at work, both in the weight room and the gym as he looks to take his game to another level.
To that end, Johnson spent the offseason playing up an age, competing with the MoKan Select 17s, giving the team size and energy in the paint.
“I think it (playing with MoKan) is the best experience for exposure and playing against good players and getting noticed by coaches,” Johnson said. “It makes you a lot better.”
Willard had some impressive moments this summer, showcasing what has to be one of the area’s youngest starting fives. In addition to Johnson, the Tigers started sophomore guards Koke Holloman and Kenny Chambers, as well as 6-foot-5 sophomore forward Ethan Burson.
Holloman and Chambers both got plenty of varsity experience as freshmen last season, and form one of the area’s top up-and-coming backcourts.
“We struggled a lot, it was a whole new team that had mostly never played at the varsity level before,” Johnson said. “We might not have won a lot of games, but we made more progress than a lot of teams, I think. This year, I think we are going to come out and shock a lot of teams because they think we are going to be bad again like last year.”
Johnson said with him back on the court this season, he expects the Tigers to experience a big turnaround.
“There were a few close games where we didn’t really have any big guys and we just lost by a few points and it could have been a different outcome,” he said.
In a testament to his hard work, Johnson gained 25 pounds of muscle, training in the weight room.
“I noticed that I’ll be bumping with somebody that might be a little bigger than me and it doesn’t really bother me as much,” Johnson said. “I finish a lot stronger now.”
Johnson has also been putting in work on his outside game, and showcased it at times this summer while playing with the Tigers, showing a consistent stroke from 3-point range at mid-range.
“I think my shot has gotten a lot better,” Johnson said. “I don’t shoot as many easy shots (in workouts), I try to challenge myself.”