Recruiting Report: Evan Johnson (2020)

While Oak Hill is synonymous with five star recruits, especially at the guard position, every year they also have under the radar guys who go overlooked because of all the talent on the team. That’s the case with senior guard Evan Johnson, who despite being on the team and contributing for the past two seasons is still a pretty unknown commodity for college coaches.

This year, with just two high major guards in the fold in senior point guard K.K. Robinson and senior two guard Cam Thomas, Johnson should get his chance to shine and did so in their first scrimmage against Massanutten where he scored 14 points. It’s something they will have to get used to, but Johnson says the team understands and will be playing together a lot more this year.

“The past couple of years we had more talent,” Johnson did not hesitate to say. “This year, it seems like everyone is buying in more than last year. We don’t have as many top players this year as we did the last two years, we don’t have the Keldon Johnson, Cole Anthony or Kofi Cockburn, so we know we have to come together and play as a team.”

Something else that will change is that Johnson will play more on the basketball this year than he has in the past. As their second best ball handling option, Johnson says he’s been learning from some of the best over the past few years and will use what he learned to his advantage.

“I’ve been taking notes from the past point guards in Will Richardson and Cole Anthony, guys who are pure floor generals,” he said. “I’ve been taking notes and watching them play and I think I’ve learned a lot from them.”

At 6’1”, Johnson isn’t the biggest combo guard but he’s lightning quick end-to-end, he can make shots off the catch and off the bounce and he’s a bouncy and athletic guy who uses it to finish at the rim and guard guys the length of the floor. He’s eager to show that he’s able to make plays on the ball and play the point guard position at the next level, and he’s ready to show he can do much more than many others think he can.

“I’m more of a facilitator off the bounce and a knock down off the swing type of guard. People don’t know that I can actually knock down shots and create for myself because I play off the ball a lot but I can do that as well.”

Johnson has had some set backs when it comes to recruitment, as he suffered an injury after the first live period with Team CP3 and wasn’t able to play in front of a ton of coaches this summer. Throw in the fact that both in high school and AAU he played alongside some of the top point guards in the country over the past few years and you see the recipe for him getting overlooked on the recruiting trail.

When asked who was recruiting him, it was both frightening and disappointing to hear that he doesn’t have many suitors for him right now.

“Nobody right now for real. It’s been quiet since my injury this summer, UNC Charlotte was talking to me and were big on me before it happened, but they just used their last scholarship on someone who committed.”

Outside of his shooting, defense and playmaking ability, Johnson believes he can walk right in to a locker room at the next level and be a leader and a teammate that other guys can get behind and if not, he’ll hold them accountable.

“I’ll bring leadership and energy to the team, I won’t let anyone get down on themselves I make sure I keep everyone up and engaged.”

I would highly suggest that mid major coaches that would usually overlook Oak Hill take a look this year, as Johnson is one of the gems left in the midatlantic area and should be fine at the next level since he’s been playing against some high level competition throughout his high school career.