Recruiting Report: Isaac Johnson (2019)
Utah’s top-ranked 2019, Isaac Johnson, already had four in-state offers heading into his offseason this past spring, and came out this summer with three more big ones.
The 6-foot-11 forward added Stanford, Wake Forest and Gonzaga to his existing offers from BYU, Southern Utah, Utah and Utah State.
We recently caught up with the highly sought-after prospect, and he discussed the recent high-major offers.
“All three universities are great basketball schools. They all have great programs, great coaches, and are all definitely serious considerations,” said Johnson. “I’m just really impressed with all three of them, and overall, all seven.”
After a good summer playing up with Exum Elite 17U on the adidas Gauntlet, Johnson seems one verge of picking up some more high-major offers.
“I have Purdue, Colorado, recently Oregon and maybe even Kansas (showing interest). I have not had direct contact with Kansas, but they’ve asked my shooting coach about me,” said Johnson.
He says there’s no school in particular he’s hoping to nab an offer from. He learned at an early age to be open-minded about the recruiting process.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any dream school for me,” said Johnson. “In 7th-grade, I stopped creating biases towards any school, because I knew I was going to be able to play in college, and that’s really helped me to open up all opportunities, and be accepting of any school that look my way.”
Obviously, Johnson’s great height makes him a natural target for college coaches. But he’s more than just a tall guy, he pairs it with a skilled and diverse skill-set.
“I consider myself to be a leader out on the floor, that’s the first thing. I’ve got to help guys know where to be and be like a player/coach. Some of me strengths are seeing the floor and definitely being able to shoot the ball,” said Johnson.
“I can take the ball up the floor off a rebound if need be, and I can handle pressure, pass over people, I feel like I have really good passing ability.”
He added: “I see myself as a stretch-four, but if we have other guys out there and coach needs me to play four or five, I can play both easy.”
This past spring and summer, Johnson had ample opportunity to expand his already vast skill-set, and played well with Exum Elite 17U.
“Playing up, I feel like that first tournament in Dallas, I had a little bit of wide-eyes. But I got under control, and right into it, and averaged 11 rebounds in the next tournament,” said Johnson. “And after that, I got better at a lot of things, and pretty much felt like I belonged there.”
Now, just months removed from his junior season with the Cavemen, Johnson says the goal is to be the ultimate leader, and obviously, to produce in large quantities.
“Personally, I’d like to average 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 3-5 assists per game,” said Johnson.
“I don’t think expectations are any different for me this season — pretty much just be a floor general, make sure all my guys are running the right plays, and doing the right things.”