Recruiting Report: Matthew Johnson (2017)
Matthew Johnson carved himself a nice role on last year’s exceptional Rangeview team, which went 26-1 before losing a heart-breaker in the Class 5A semifinals. Johnson developed into a long-range marksmen who could catch and pull quickly in the Raiders’…
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Continue ReadingMatthew Johnson carved himself a nice role on last year’s exceptional Rangeview team, which went 26-1 before losing a heart-breaker in the Class 5A semifinals.
Johnson developed into a long-range marksmen who could catch and pull quickly in the Raiders’ breakneck, transition system.
Rest assured, Johnson will still be relied upon to knock down outside shots. During a strong spring for a surging Colorado Connect team, the 6-2 guard seemed to make one big shot after another from beyond the arc.
But he’s also ready to take on more, as one of the team’s veteran leaders alongside standout point guard Elijah Blake.
“Coach (Shawn Palmer) wants me to help lead the new guys, the young freshmen and sophomores on our team,” Johnson said. “And wants me to concentrate on playing harder defense, which will be big for us since we’re small.”
With a nice wingspan, Johnson gets maximum length out of his 6-2 frame, and he knows the onus that puts on him to be a productive perimeter defender. Luckily, it was a major point of emphasis for his Connect club team as well.
“The coaches at Connect, they don’t play around when it comes to defense,” he said. “They make you play hard defense. If you don’t, you’re coming out of the game. It’s that simple. It’s big that we play defense for Connect, and that’s why I’ve been improving defensively.”
Johnson has also made concerted efforts since Rangeview’s season ended to add versatility to his game on the offensive side of the ball.
“I’m really trying to work on driving in the lane more,” said Johnson, a high-academic student-athlete with a GPA of 4.4. “Last year I was known as just a spot-up shooter, so I’m trying to improve in that area. I know I’m really long in my size, so I’m trying to develop a post game. And Coach has developed plays where our guards can post up if we have smaller players on us, so I am going to try to improve on that.”
To this point, Johnson’s recruiting attention has been limited, but if he continues to improve at this rate (he was one of the best players in the gym at the Top of the Rockies tournament earlier this month), it’s hard to think he won’t turn some heads when he heads back out on the grassroots trail with Connect in July. He projects as a serviceable D-II or D-III guard because of his length, shooting ability — to say nothing of his strong work in the classroom.
For now, Johnson continues to work on his game and heeding his coaches challenge to become a leader during Rangeview’s run through the team camp circuit in June.
Expect big things to come for this 2017 stock riser.