Prospect Spotlight: Johnny Leth (2020)
The Johnston hoops program is coming of the heels of a state tourney bid last season, and things could stay good for a little while.
Plenty of the state’s top young talent is littered throughout the Dragons’ program, lengthy 6-foot-3 forward Johnny Leth is no exception.
A do-it-all, versatile rising junior, Leth was very good at times this spring with the Kingdom Hoops Elite 16U, and is a guy who could be in line for a breakout winter with the Dragons.
“I think that I run the floor really well, and I’m a pretty dominant rebounder. I can block a lot of shots usually,” said Leth. “I’d say that overall I’m more of a slasher than a 3-point shooter, but I’ve been working on my 3s since I’m going to have to play that role more this high school season.”
The slasher has been adamant about improving his ability to can a jumper. Making him a well-rounded combo-forward, with the length to guard several different positions.
“My offseason consisted a lot of shooting and doing a lot of drills and getting practice in, with high school team and with Kingdom,” said Leth.
“With Kingdom, I thought I played pretty well. My role was more to rebound than to score, but I got better at scoring towards the end, and was finding ways to score it whether it was driving or shooting.”
As a sophomore within a stacked Johnston program, Leth was the only guy from his class to play with the varsity. It was mostly just practice and suiting for games (he played predominantly with the sophomore team), but it was the experience that mattered most.
“I think they had me up just to get the feel of the varsity mentality and what I need to be at for next year, because I think they’ll need me as a big role player this season,” said Leth.
“My role this year will be to score and rebound, we’ll have Nate Newcomb and Peyton Williams, so that’s three big rebounders and shot-blockers. But I’ll need to be able to get to the basket, score, shoot, pass; I’ll just need to fill that role.”