Basketball Recruiting: Oregon Offers Darin Johnson

On Monday, it was official that Dana Altman offered Darin Johnson, a guard from Elk Grove, California, for the class of 2013. He becomes the 15th offer the Oregon Ducks.

Who is Darin Johnson? He plays at both the shooting and point guard position at Franklin, clocking in at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. He’s a three-star recruit according to both ESPN and Scout. Only ESPN has a position ranking for him; he ranks 47th at shooting guard.

He’s played 60 games in two years at Franklin, more than doubling his points per game between seasons. Last season, he averaged 16.8 points a game and 78 percent at the free throw line. He also had 2.5 assists per game and 4.4 rebounds per game.

How close are the Ducks to getting Johnson? It’s an interesting debate. According to 247Sports, he was instantly upgraded as a higher interest alongside Oregon State, USC, and Washington State.

However, SB Nation’s The Slipper Still Fits, a Gonzaga basketball blog, reports that the school has been one of the first to reach out to Johnson and has been following him the most out of any school that has offered.

According to the source, the Zags, Trojans, and Cougars were three of his four favorite schools. Virginia Tech is the last, but they have yet to extend an offer his way. This was all before the onslaught of west coast schools that offered the guard along with the Ducks: San Diego State, Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado.

Johnson has already unofficially visited his favorite schools except the Hokies, and he plans to visit Gonzaga officially this fall.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo, follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. Read his other work on the Iowa State blog, Clones Confidential, and Watson Talk Lacrosse.