Prospect Spotlight: Johnny Joens (2020)
Cedar Rapids Prairie’s football season just came to an end, and now, fans of the Hawks can look forward to what should be an exciting winter of hoops.
A strong junior class is coming in this season for Prairie, among the best of that bunch is 6-foot guard Johnny Joens.
Does that last name sound familiar? That’s because Johnny is the cousin of former Xavier standout and current Upper Iowa sharpshooter, Jackson Joens.
Johnny can snipe from deep, just like his cousin.
“I feel like I can shoot pretty well. I feel like I can get my teammates involved. I feel like I’m pretty quick of the dribble and can create stuff,” said Johnny.
“I got to work on finishing still a little bit, keep my handle tight, work on defense; but overall, I think I got a pretty good skill-set so far.”
This past spring and summer, Joens was active on the grassroots scene. He played with Iowa Mavericks 16U and finished the summer with Iowa Dynasty.
“It was good, getting out there and playing against good competition is always good. And I was just looking to improve my game, and it’s getting better,” said Joens, who says he’ll play with Iowa Dynasty next offseason.
Now, the wide-receiver on the football team will shift his focus to hoops season. And although the Hawks have plenty returning from last season’s 10-12 squad, Johnny is hoping to make major contributions with this year’s team.
“We all jell really well together, we’re all friends off the court. It should be pretty easy to have good chemistry on the court. And I feel like my role will be to run that two guard, and then get Keegan (Murray) and Kris (Murray) the ball and get them open,” said Johnny.
Recruitment-wise, he’s still got ample time to figure it all out, Right now, he says he likes football and basketball equally.
“I like whatever the season is, right now as football just ended, I’m trying to get back into the swing of basketball; but, I don’t really have a preference yet,” said Johnny.
“I haven’t got a lot of recruitment yet, I hope it picks up. It doesn’t matter which sport, either one I’d be grateful to get interest in, so whatever happens, I’m glad.”
Johnny Joens is ranked by Prep Hoops as a top 75 prospect in his class. To see the full ranking of Iowa’s 2020 class, click here.