Prospect Spotlight: Chandler Johnson (2020)
It isn’t often anymore that you see players take the usual path of playing junior varsity their first
two years of high school and become a rotational player on varsity their junior season. Chandler
Johnson looks to follow the “old school” path and being an impact for the Mt. St. Joe Gaels this
season.
The 6-foot guard helped lead the Gaels to a MIAA A Conference championship game appearance at the junior varsity level last season.
“I feel like I had to be the leader of the team,” Johnson continued, “just by being vocal and
showing the younger players how to win.”
The difference from the junior varsity level to varsity is massive in any circumstance, but
considering the talent in the MIAA, it makes it that much more difficult. Johnson is ready for any
role to be thrown his way. He knows he’ll have to earn every minute on the floor.
“I think I’ll be able to help just adding depth at the guard position,” Johnson told Prep Hoops.
“Bringing a lot of scrappy defense and taking care of the ball. That’s what my mindset is.”
Johnson has improved consistently since he stepped on campus as a freshman. Now preparing
for his junior season, the coaching staff has been very pleased with his effort and production in
the preseason workouts.
“I’m very scrappy and play a lot of defense,” Johnson said. “I can shoot it and handle the ball as
well.”
After watching their workout this past weekend, it’s clear that Johnson is a capable shooter from
deep. He also showed plenty of potential when it came to handling the ball in pick-and-roll
situations. He executed a handful of pocket passes that were right on the money for the rolling
big man to finish an easy lay up.
Luckily for Johnson, he has his teammate and LSU commit, James Bishop, to push him during
or even after workouts.
“He’s forced me to get a lot better.” Johnson explained. “He has so many counter moves, so it’s
a real challenge guarding him. I focus on sticking him as much as I can so that when I have to
guard other players, it’ll feel much easier. We workout a lot together outside of school workouts.”
For a Gaels squad that many are overlooking because of what they lost from last season, look
for Johnson to be a viable option in the rotation as the season goes on.