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Today is the first day of the early signing period for NCAA Basketball. Your Gopher basketball recruiting class is about to become official. The first signing comes from the local De La Salle guard, Jarvis Johnson.
DeLaSalle guard Jarvis Johnson (@MuhneyyChief_12), who signed with #Gophers today, said: "I want to start a trend." pic.twitter.com/avQ5j2Dl5Z
— Marcus R. Fuller (@GophersNow) November 12, 2014
This is a very nice recruiting class for Richard Pitino and staff and covers a lot of important bases. The Jarvis signing lands the state's top guard, a kid who is a great fit for what the current staff is trying to accomplish on the court while not letting a local big recruit get away.
Gopher Basketball Recruiting
Gopher Basketball Recruiting
Height: 6'1"
Position: PG/SG
Stars: 3
Ranking: #21 PG according to ESPN
Other Significant Offers: Michigan State, Wisconsin, UNLV, UCLA, Cal, Iowa State, others
ESPN Eval: "Johnson has the speed, quickness, athleticism, motor and ability to change gears to be a special lead guard. Johnson has excellent court vision and does a great job using the advance pass on the break and finding the open man down the sideline or rim running.:
There has been so much discussion about how Pitino would ideally love to have that combo-guard backcourt similar to UConn and Louisville has had in recent years. Johnson and fellow 2015 commit, Kevin Dorsey are the signings to hopefully achieve that end.
Amelia Rayno's comments on Johnson:
The DeLaSalle standout has been on the radar of coaches across the country for years, but he was dropped from the national rankings after a tough summer on the AAU circuit. Still, Pitino knows well how the 6-1 combo guard's athleticism and ability to find guys in transition will benefit an up-tempo system. Johnson, who chose Minnesota over a litany of schools including Iowa State, Michigan State, UCLA and Wisconsin, needs to become a better scorer. "I gave more thought and time to my college decision, and in the end I realized it was important to come back to where I started the process," Johnson said when verbally committing.