'20 TN SG Keon Johnson (Tennessee commit 8.6.19)

[TN_gal]

From 247's Evan Daniels and Josh Gershon: USA Basketball: Caleb Love, Josh Christopher among standouts

Which prospects stood out this week?

Keon Johnson, 2020 SG, The Webb School:

Steady progression has been the name of the game for Johnson, a 6-foot-4 guard out of Bell Buckle (Tenn.). He’s steadily gotten better over the past two years, and he seems to be making big strides as he enters his senior season. Not many guards were better than him at USA Basketball, and it all starts with his mentality, approach and defensive nature. Johnson is an elite perimeter defender because of his motor, lateral quickness, athleticism and toughness. A tremendous athlete, Johnson is tough to stop in transition, a good finisher at the rim, and while it’s considered an area for improvement is showing growth with his jump shot. Johnson jumped to five-star range in our last rankings, and he certainly lived up to that here.
Recruiting: Committed to Tennessee

 

[wtmvol]

I put Ramar in because he was the 5 star PG that was the only missing peace to supposedly get UT to the final four. Extremely overrated and expectations way overblown by our fanbase. Complete dud relatively speaking.

Well if the expectation was that Ramar was going to bring peace, he was a massive disappointment

My point was that Ramar's career at UT doesn't at all seem similar to Hopson or VY.

 

[MoB_MoVols]

At the USA minicamp he earned the Most Likely to make the BLUE BLOODS regret not going all in superlative

There's a really good chance Keon Johnson would have decided to stay home and play at Tennessee regardless of who recruited him. He's a great fit for Rick Barnes and the Volunteers staff did a great job recruiting him. It's not like he just fell into their laps.

But, some of the country's big name programs are going to kick themselves for not going all in to try and land Johnson. The guy just impacts winning on both ends of the court, keeps improving his ball handling and shooting, defends and is an elite athlete. When you are ranked as highly as he is, it is hard to move up. But, his stock is on the rise.

-Rivals

 

[vols 30]

Yarbrough and Hopson are two of the most maligned players of my lifetime by Tennessee fans who expected them to be the saviors of Tennessee basketball.

Yarbrough averaged 18 ppg and 7.5 rpg as a SR, scored 1737 career points, and was a 3x All-SEC player.

Hopson averaged 17 ppg and was All-SEC as a JR, and again would have been as a SR had he not made the mistake of listening to his influences that told him he was God's gift to basketball. He also likely would have passed VY on the all-time school scoring list.

I would be fine with any of these 2020 guys having similar careers. Fans just need to temper their expectations and not expect them to arrive on campus on dominate from day one. If they dominate from day one, that's great, but unrealistic expectations ruined the perception of what were actually pretty nice careers for VY and Hopson.

Never understood the attack on them. Really, the only player that disappointed me because of expectations was R Hubbs. He give you flashes of being a great player, and then disappear the next 3 games

 

[The Dog]

At the USA minicamp he earned the Most Likely to make the BLUE BLOODS regret not going all in superlative

-Rivals

I know I can get carried away, but this kid is going to be a Tennessee basketball legend. The only bad thing about that, is Keon is going to play his way into an one and done, lottery pick.

 

[TN_gal]

 

[TrapVol]

Wow, look at those hops!!

 

[Roustabout]

Wow, look at those hops!!

Elevation

 

[walkenvol]

Is it the camera angle or does he really have the ball a foot above the rim?

 

[The Dog]

Is it the camera angle or does he really have the ball a foot above the rim?

He has the ball a foot over the rim 2 handed, which is pretty impressive. There may be some optical illusion going on, but I'm sure he can do it any way. Now, I know I'm going to catch hell for this, but I could get 6 inches above the rim, without the ball, with one hand and Keon has 2 inches on me. Of course, that was circa 1989-2000

 

[walkenvol]

Claims like this demand an immediate game of one on one vs Dallas

 

[The Dog]

Claims like this demand an immediate game of one on one vs Dallas

I love Dal and knew that was coming. But Dal has close to 30 years on me, still, I can probably take him.

 

[walkenvol]

Does Dal get to choose the Waffle House?

 

[Roustabout]

Looking at his film he is much bigger than I expected. Really solid base. Looks closer to 6’5”.

 

[The Dog]

Does Dal get to choose the Waffle House?

Oh, so we now have one on one basketball games in the Waffle House parking lot ?

 

[Lefteye]

Oh, so we now have one on one basketball games in the Waffle House parking lot ?

Heck yeah!! Two garbage cans and a rolled up paper cup and it’s game time.

That’s why Kentucky mainly recruits out of state. Haha

 

[jmva1]

Some highlights from Keon’s recent USA basketball camp

 

[Roustabout]

Some highlights from Keon’s recent USA basketball camp

Damn son

 

[Freak]

 

[jmva1]

Here’s a video of Keon playing against Springer and Drew Pember’s AAU team (Bobby Maze’s team) and Keon jumps over Drew Pember while dunking on him

 

[JelloPuddinPup]

Here’s a video of Keon playing against Springer and Drew Pember’s AAU team (Bobby Maze’s team) and Keon jumps over Drew Pember while dunking on him

I'm sure Drew will be looking forward to practicing with him daily haha.

 

[MoB_MoVols]

 

[cncchris33]

Kid is a consistent jumper away from the lottery. Hopefully it takes him a couple years to get there.

 

[Dallasbowlin]

I need answers as to why the short shorts are making a comeback. What are these kids smoking these days? Lol

 

[Chris4Vols22]

The shorts have been going on for at least a couple years now; not really new news. In my head, I think they would be better for basketball anyway. Makes more sense than longer and looser shorts.