Recruiting Report: Efrem Johnson (2022)
After a few years of up and down turmoil with some of the best players in the area leaving for bigger programs and greener pastures, it’s nice to see a stacked 2022 class in the 757, with many of the best players playing for their local public high schools. In our 2022 class rankings, there are six guards from the Hampton Roads area in the top 25 prospects, with all of them playing public school ball.
One of them that is poised to breakout this year is Western Branch sophomore Efrem Johnson, nicknamed “Butter” by his teammates and coaches because of his smooth scoring ability and all around game. Johnson had a solid freshman year last year, but was stuck playing behind some very good seniors and upperclassmen. With them gone, this will be the year that Johnson will break out and likely be one of the top scorers in the area. However, it’s the things he learned from his senior leaders the last few years that have him ready for this time.
“I came in playing with some great senior leaders in Kendall [Bynum] and others, and now it’s my turn to fill that role,” he said. “It’s kind of hard, but as you keep practicing and getting with the flow of things it gets easier. I have to thank them though, because they taught me a lot along the way.”
Johnson’s game is pretty well rounded, but it’s his ability to create and score the basketball in isolation situations and within the flow of the offense that makes him an intriguing young prospect. At 6’3” he has a good frame that should fill out, he’s highly skilled and has the go-getter mentality you want out of a scorer. He’s a guy who knows the strengths of his game, and also knows there’s areas he needs to continue to work on.
“I can do the triple threat as a guy who can shoot, pass and dribble,” Johnson said. “I have a high IQ, I can get above the rim and score. I need to work on handling the ball more and becoming a better defender and rebounder, just whatever will help my team win.”
While he’s still waiting for his breakout year to become recognized as one of the top players in the area, college coaches have already took noticed with his great summer with Boo Williams, team camps and other camps as well. Johnson says that he’s received letters and his coaches have heard from schools such as ECU, FIU, ODU, Norfolk State and Hampton, and that’s just scratching the surface with what should start to come in soon.
While many are talking about him as a prospect, Johnson is solely focused on helping make Western Branch a contender despite their massive overhaul this year. They lost much of their starting lineup to graduation and transfers, but they do return some tough minded and hard working guys, especially in the backcourt, and with Johnson leading them they have their eyes focused on a trip to the capital this year.
“Obviously our first goal is to try to make a state championship run. From an individual perspective, I don’t really worry about that I just try to do whatever I can to help my team get a W every time I’m on the court.”
Johnson is set to explode both from a production standpoint and a recruitment standpoint, and I fully expect him to be one of the top scorers in the area. Be sure to check him out early so you can say you watched him when he was young before all the mid and high major coaches start to get involved with him.