After a showing at a California basketball camp in the summer after eighth grade — a performance he dubbed as unremarkable — he was pulled aside by a Utah State assistant basketball coach and offered a scholarship. Before that moment, Johnson never thought he would become an elite basketball player.
“Then it just kind of dawned on me that I can actually be pretty good,” Johnson said.
Now a senior at American Fork High School, Johnson’s tone and goals have shifted. He’s serious about a career in basketball, and further cemented that trajectory when he signed a national letter of intent with Oregon two weeks ago.