Johnson is a player that we got to see at the Grandview Fall Leagues as well as at our Expo this year and what I will say is, when he’s playing free and open, he’s at his best. Jayland is a defensive menace who can be very impactful on that end of the floor if he keys in on it. He uses his body to move guys around, he stays in front of his man and has very active hands. We’ve seen Jayland be able to turn defense into offense and get out in transition and finish. He’s also a capable floor spacer who can be a 3&D guy and Smoky Hill can benefit from having a defensive specialist if he applies himself to be that. Jayland is a versatile two-way guy with high upside and while he’s under the radar right now, he’s a player who is improving his stock by going out and competing. He makes a rise in the rankings.

Johnson’s defensive instincts provided some promising moments and I saw them in the Grandview league last week and this further showed me that he could pile those kinds of games together. He denied passing lanes, poked balls loose from behind and turned takeaways into transition opportunities. He had a couple of fast break points just by being aggressive on that end. There’s another level to his game if he becomes even more disruptive defensively and assertive offensively. I’d like to see him hunt the ball and stay active as he scored when he got the ball, made a move and got to the basket and work into the middle of the floor more often instead of waiting for the guys to just pass it to him. Go get it yourself sometimes and trust in the work you’ve been putting in. He’s getting better every time that we see him and I think it was important for him to play freely and see that he could hang with other players. Apply it, always.