Oregon Ducks Basketball Recruiting: Darin Johnson names leader
2013 four-star combo guard Darin Johnson named the Oregon Ducks the leaders in his recruitment, per 247Sports Duck Territory. This is huge news for the Ducks basketball program, as he is one of the top 125 recruits in the nation and one of the top ten recruits in the state of California. Among combo guards, Johnson is either third or fourth in the 2013 class.
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An explosive player, Johnson is an above-average passer and a great scorer who can beat a defense in many different ways. At 6’4″, 200 pounds, he has terrific size and brings good intangibles to the table. In addition to being a solid ball-handler, Johnson averaged 4.4 rebounds per game this past season for Sheldon High in Sacramento.
An official visitor to Eugene on Friday, Darin Johnson visited the California Golden Bears last week on Saturday. He also took an official trip to San Diego State to start the month and has key offers from Washington State, USC, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon State, Utah, UTEP, Texas A&M, Marquette, Colorado, and Gonzaga.
Johnson is at his best driving the ball and has a high-level mid-range game, but his outside shot is too inconsistent and his shot selection is of huge concern. Still, he is a maturing player and an ideal combo guard that Dana Altman can build around once he develops. Being the leaders for such a highly regarded, top 125 four-star recruit is huge for Oregon as Altman looks to further advance the program.
It’s difficult not to fall in love with Johnson’s game after watching him average about 17 points per game for his high school team, and a few scouts have compared him to the recruit version of Russell Westbrook. Funny thing is, their skill-sets are similar with Johnson’s weaknesses being exaggerated Westbrook weaknesses. I love Johnson’s scoring ability and energy, and he has earned all four stars in my book. His defense could also use some work, but there is definitely a reason why Sean Miller and Arizona have offered him and are taking a hard look at him- he’s great.
With every bit of news I hear regarding Johnson (offered by Oregon on the 23rd of July), it just seems more and more apparent that he loves the program. It sounds like he had a great official trip, and it is absolutely huge to be the leaders in his recruitment over an in-area team like USC and big basketball programs like ‘Zona and Marquette.
You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.