UVA target, 5-star PG Johnson to announce college choice Friday
Posted on Monday, Mar. 28, 2022, 12:15 am
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
London Johnson (Photo: twitter.com/londonejohnson)
One of the nation’s top point guard prospects, London Johnson of Norcross, Ga., will announce his college choice this Friday, according to a report from Joe Tipton of On3Sports.
Johnson, a 6-foot-4, 5-star recruit, narrowed his more than 25 offers to six a few months ago, including Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, Southern Cal and NC State. The Norcross star said that he has a strong relationship with UVA coaches Tony Bennett and Jason Williford. He visited the Cavaliers for the program’s Blue-White Scrimmage last October and hasn’t visited any other schools since.
An elite scorer and playmaker, Johnson would be a huge boost to Virginia’s program. While Johnson is officially a member of the 2023 recruiting class, there has been some talk about him possibly reclassifying to the Class of 2022, which will be coming in this summer.
UVA’s Class of ‘22 is presently ranked ninth in the country by 247Sports and 12th by Rivals. The class, all of which have signed, is comprised of 6-10 power forward Isaac Traudt, 6-4 combo guard Isaac McKneely, 6-5 small forward Leon Bond and 6-5 small forward Ryan Dunn. All four are rated 4-star recruits.
You can check out some of Johnson’s game highlights from earlier this season at the end of this article.
In the Portal
Meanwhile, Virginia guard Malachi Poindexter, a former walk-on from Charlottesville’s St. Anne’s-Belfield, entered the transfer portal this past week. Poindexter, who was awarded a scholarship for his work in practice, gained significant playing time throughout the season for the Cavaliers.
According to sources, Poindexter had a visit with Radford University on Sunday evening and has also heard from Duquesne.
More Portal News
Virginia is interested in one of the top players who has entered the portal, LSU freshman shooting guard Brandon Murray, who is ranked the second-best transfer in Evan Miyakawa’s transfer rankings (EvanMiya.com).
Miyakawa rates Murray a five-star transfer, one of only eight current 5-star transfers available, according to his rankings. Murray averaged 10 points per game as a starter for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, UVA has also reached out to several other players in the portal, including Kentucky redshirt sophomore wing Dantaie Allen, who was a successful shooter for the Wildcats as a freshman, but was set back by injuries.
Also, Princeton graduate transfer point guard Jaelin Llewellyn, who averaged more than 15 points a game this past season and made 39 percent of his 3-point attempts. UVA recruited Llewellyn in 2018. He had a scheduled visit to Alabama over the weekend.
South Carolina combo guard Bryce Lindsay has reopened his recruitment after the school fired Frank Martin. Sources said there has been some contact, along with Belmont freshman guard Will Richard, who spoke with UVA this past week. The Georgia native averaged 12 points per game for Belmont.
Lots of schools are going after Utah Valley forward Fardaws Aimaq, who averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds a game this season. Aimaq was WAC Player of the Year.
UVA has also contacted MAC freshman of the year Payton Sparks of Ball State (13 ppg, 8 rpg) and Brown grad transfer Jaylan Gainey, who may be involved with Florida State. Gainey is two-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year and a strong shot-blocker.
