By MATT WHITFIELD
COLORADO SPRINGS – While Donda (CA) Academy lost a key player this summer in Jahki Howard to Overtime Elite, they have reloaded with class of 2023 consensus Top-25 recruit AJ Johnson.
Heading into his senior season, Johnson, the 6-foot-5, 170-pound point guard, said that two schools are working the hardest for his recruitment.
“Texas, they work pretty hard,” Johnson said in an interview. “And LSU, I would say them as well.”
Johnson recently took official visits to both programs. He has also taken official visits to NC State and USC.
Joining Johnson on his visit to Texas was close friend and current Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, who he has known since he was 10-years-old.
“We grew up in the same area,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Gonzaga and Alabama have also shown a lot of interest.
Green, who went from Prolific (CA) Prep straight to the NBA G League Ignite Program, gave Johnson advice on the route.
“He tells me that you’ve got to work hard to get [to the NBA],” Johnson said. “It’s not going to be easy. When you make it it’s going to be even harder ever single step, so you just got to keep putting in the work and be a sponge and just want to get better and stay hungry.”
Johnson’s trainer Mike Hill also confirmed a report from 247Sports that he will be visiting Louisville on October 21 for the program’s Louisville Live event, while also confirming the Cardinals have extended an offer.
Now attending Donda Academy, Johnson said he knew he wanted to attend the school because “I feel like prep schools get you ready for the next level.”
“They compete every day in practice,” he said. “Their practices are really hard. And some public schools the players might not be at your level, so it’s not going to really push you. I wanted to go and play a national schedule and prove that I can play with the best of the best.”
He also had the opportunity to meet Kanye West for a photo shoot at the shoot.
“He was cool,” Johnson said.
Despite all the attention, Johnson said just wants to keep grinding and get even better.
“I’m a sponge,” he said. “I just want to get better and become the best player I can be. I am just grateful for how I shot up so high in the rankings, though I’m not really worried about that. I just put my head down and grinded and wanted to get better and it everything started to come out of nowhere.”
Photo: ELITE High School Scouting (@EliteHSScouting)
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