Recruiting Report: Nathan Johnson (2019)
Nathan Johnson spent his summer hitting multiple bombs for Kingdom Hoops with a growing group of college coaches evaluating from the college coach section. Johnson is a 2018 that reclassified to 2019.
Johnson is a small forward with size that will be going to Hargrave Military School next year as a now 2019 graduate. Nathan is coming off of a 21-5 season with Waukee in Iowa as a senior that saw him average 12.2 points and 10 rebounds a game shooting 44 percent from the floor and making a third of his threes. Johnson previously had an Air Force offer and interest from Long Beach State, Florida Gulf Coast, and UTEP last summer.
Johnson was on the radar of some schools last year but this year he’s become more talked about nationally. What has been the difference? Johnson told us today.
“It’s been a really good month for me and my teammates,” Johnson said. “We played really well. We just finished in the quarterfinals in Las Vegas so it was a great end to the season. And then I’ve really developed my game a lot, gained a lot of confidence in my game, which is really good for me. So I’m feeling really good about how I finished the summer.”
Johnson is first and foremost known as a shooter. Seemingly every game regardless of the opponent Nathan was sinking at least 3/4 perimeter jumpers. Johnson also has a strong build and he jumps well too.
“Shooting is probably my main strength and then there are other things like my athletic ability and rebounding. On my team I finished likely second in every other category besides scoring so I’ve been able to do a lot of things well. I’d say shooting is the top thing that I categorize myself as.”
Before Johnson goes to a four year school there are things he wants to improve about himself.
“I would say I would like to improve my ball handling and get better at different types of shots, like coming off screens, and pull-ups, and all different kinds of shooting,” Nathan said.
Earlier in the summer Johnson decided to reclassify to 2019 and attend Hargrave Military school for the 2018-19 season. Nathan explained why he made this choice with Prep Hoops.
“During my junior year I had a really minor knee injury that I had to get fixed,” Johnson said. “I kept playing through the AAU season, which would of been July, last July, I got it fixed after our first tournament in July. So I missed a major part of the recruiting season last year. That definitely affected my recruiting a lot so I didn’t have a lot of schools coming to talk to me after that.
“I then considered prep a lot and eventually pulled the trigger on that because I feel I need another year to get bigger, faster, stronger, and have another year under my belt. Playing that level of competition would be really good for me.”
Schools have been following/tracking Nathan for some time but it’s been an array of programs and not as much consistency. That has changed this June and July. Knowing that Nathan is able to go to a four year school this fall also has some people interested.
“Some schools are talking to me about 2018. I’m still open so I haven’t really decided on any options right now. Nothing specific about when or anything like that.”
Each game that Kingdom Hoops played in Las Vegas in the past week had several programs evaluating closely.
“There is a big bunch of schools from low major to high major,” Nathan said. “I have an offer from Stoney Brook and American, so those two schools are talking to me a lot. I’m hearing from Loyola Chicago, Minnesota, Boston College, Lafayette, Dartmouth, Cornell, and overall just a big variety of schools.”
Johnson has not scheduled any visits as of yet for the next two months but that could change soon.
“I’ve been waiting to get through the July period and then set dates after that. I will soon pick out some schools to visit.”