As Virginia was climbing back into Monday night’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against Iowa at John Paul Jones Arena, London Johnson was watching intently from a few states away.
The Wahoos, who trailed by as many as 21 in the first half, were able to come all the way back to take the lead twice, on late 3-pointers by Taine Murray and Kihei Clark. It ultimately wasn’t enough in the 75-74 loss, but Johnson still came away impressed.
“I thought they were gonna pull it out there at the end,” the 6-foot-3 junior from Norcross (Ga.) High School admitted to CavsCorner following the game.
It’s been about a month since the 2023 five-star point guard released his list of a dozen finalists, including Virginia. He trimmed that list to 12 a few weeks after getting offered by UVa, while on an unofficial visit for the weekend of the football game against Duke and the basketball team’s Blue-White Scrimmage in mid-October.
Johnson had an ideal seat to watch that intrasquad scrimmage, watching from the home team’s bench at JPJ.
“I really liked it,” he said of his weekend in Charlottesville. “I had a great connection with the coaches and also I liked the style of play. So I hope to get back on another visit to see if that’s where I want to attend college.”
He talked to Tony Bennett about their shared faith and UVa’s academics and the head coach’s time with the Charlotte Hornets. The coaching showed Johnson some film of how he’d potentially fit as a point guard in their offensive system.
“They said they liked the way I read the ball screen and my change of pace,” Johnson recalled, “and my ability to get my teammates involved.”
Johnson emerged as one of the top point guards in the class of 2023 this summer, vaulting 27 spots to No. 17 in the latest 2023 Rivals150 and earning a fifth star in the process. He’s up to more than two dozen scholarship offers.
Johnson’s final 12 includes four other ACC programs—North Carolina, NC State, Clemson and Wake Forest—plus Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Houston, USC and Xavier. He also visited NC State and Wake while on his way to Charlottesville last month. He’d like to get to a few more of those finalists he hasn’t visited as he continues to weigh his college options.
“As I go on more visits and talk to more coaches, I feel like it’ll be easier and easier,” he said.
Getting his list down to a dozen teams has been a relief, the Peach State product admitted, allowing him to focus more attention on his academics and his own junior season at Norcross, which is off to an early 4-1 start.
Johnson has been working on extending his 3-point range while getting stronger and more athletic. In an 18-point win on Saturday, Johnson finished with 27 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. He knocked down six of his nine 3-point attempts.
Johnson knows what he’s looking for in a college program: a strong rapport with the coaching staff, a style of play that fits his game and a place that can prepare him to play in the NBA. He hopes to make a decision within the next month.
As he ponders that decision, the five-star guard will have more nights like Monday, spent in front of a screen watching college basketball and envisioning how he’d fit.
“I’d like to just see where everything falls after watching teams play and after I see what schools are the best fit after watching them play, I’ll visit there,” he said. “I’m really grateful. I don’t take any of it for granted. I really just try to see what could be the best fit and then try to decide from there.”
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