Kentucky focusing recruiting efforts on nation’s No. 1 junior. He’s visiting this weekend.
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Sometimes, things are going so well for Tre Johnson and his Lake Highlands High School boys’ basketball team, that requests for photos come before the game even finishes.
It’s a mid-January night in Dallas, and Johnson and Lake Highlands are pulverizing Irving in a home district game.
The score is 86-18 in favor of Lake Highlands after the third quarter, when a small group of teenage boys loiters around the Lake Highlands bench, proposing to ask Johnson — the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2024 — for a photo, likely assuming his work is done for the night.
They are wrong.
Johnson was back in the game to start the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on a 24-point outing, scored in just 19 minutes.
“He’s a kid that lives in the gym, really works at it,” said Ani Umana, the director of 5-State Hoop Report and a Texas-based talent evaluator. “Fairly reserved, but also at the same time, competitive.”
After the game, there was plenty of time for photos for the nation’s best high school junior, and a player set to be an increased recruiting focus for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats.
Johnson, a 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard, is set to take an official visit to Lexington this weekend for UK’s game against defending national champion Kansas. UK 2023 signee guard Robert Dillingham is also scheduled to visit for the blue blood matchup.
The Wildcats’ pursuit of Johnson looks different now than it did only a few weeks ago, with UK’s primary 2024 backcourt recruit Ian Jackson having committed to North Carolina.
Another UK class of 2024 backcourt recruit, Tahaad Pettiford, will commit Feb. 1 and isn’t expected to pick Kentucky.
But with mutual interest between Johnson and the Wildcats, Kentucky’s history of turning Dallas-area players into future NBA stars and UK’s new Texas-focused recruiter in position, Kentucky may fancy its chances with the player viewed as the most polished in his class right now.
Johnson is consensus top recruit in 2024
Across the board, Johnson is currently ranked as the top men’s college basketball recruit in the class of 2024.
ESPN, On3, Rivals and 247Sports all have Johnson slotted in the top spot among high school juniors, and with good reason. Johnson makes shots at a high level from all over the court, but specifically from three-point range and in the mid-range.
His body also has the frame to retain more muscle and weight over time, and he’s probably not done growing yet, either.
“He has a wide shoulder length so you can pack weight on him and it’s not going to impact his athleticism or anything,” Umana said. “So adding weight won’t be a problem with his frame.”
“When you see Tre, you can tell his frame hasn’t fully filled out, his body hasn’t fully matured,” added 247Sports analyst Brandon Jenkins, who specializes in Texas recruiting. “There’s another level that he can tap into in terms of not only his athleticism still kicking in, but also him picking and choosing his spots offensively for efficiency.”
Johnson has learned how to play winning basketball while being the main focus of opposing defenses on a Lake Highlands team with state title ambitions in Texas’ big-school classification.
While Irving didn’t pose the most stringent test for Johnson and Lake Highlands earlier this month, the Herald-Leader was still able to view the skills firsthand that have separated Johnson from other players at the top of the 2024 class.
It’s easy to see how Johnson projects to scale well at the college level given his shot-making ability.
Johnson plays with poise and precision, and while the complete dribble package may not be there, yet, his shooting more than makes up for it.
“He has really good footwork and balance, especially when he’s navigating in tight spaces,” Umana said. “He’s always in control. Even if he takes tough shots, he still has his footwork together, which allows him to rise, get him set up and score.”
“He’s one of those dudes who can play off the ball and just make jumpers from long distance and affect the game with his length and his ability to stretch the floor,” Jenkins said.
These skills also showed up last August in Chicago, when the Herald-Leader watched Johnson participate in a private scrimmage in front of NBA scouts at the Under Armour Next Elite 24 event.
Johnson could be UK’s latest North Texas recruit
Johnson’s recruitment has a distinctly local flavor to it so far, but that doesn’t mean Kentucky is far behind.
Ahead of his scheduled trip to Lexington this weekend, Johnson has already taken a pair of junior-year visits: To Texas in September and to Baylor in October.
But new Kentucky assistant coach K.T. Turner has close personal ties to Johnson and his family.
Tre’s father, Richard Johnson, detailed this connection to the Herald-Leader last August.
There’s also an established recruiting pipeline that predates Turner between Kentucky and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
UK stars from North Texas include current Wildcat Cason Wallace (Richardson), Tyrese Maxey (South Garland) and Julius Randle (Plano).
Maxey told the Herald-Leader in August that he’s watched Johnson grow and become an elite player in the uber-talented DFW hoops scene.
“I know Tre a little bit, and I’ve known him for a while since I’ve been growing up and coming through the DFW area,” Maxey said. “I’ve been watching him since he was younger, and it’s just good to see him progress, getting better every single day and every single year. Now being able to get recruited by the big-name schools and even a school that I went to. It’s just great.”
Is there any advice that the 22-year-old Maxey, who is averaging more than 21 points per game this season for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, tries to pass along to the still-emerging Johnson?
“I tell him, of course, that I want him to go to Kentucky, but I just want him to be successful,” Maxey said. “The ultimate goal is to be the best he can possibly be. It’s very cool just seeing that and I wish him the best.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 11:50 AM.
