LOUISVILLE, Ky. — ESPN top-25 prospect Chris Johnson is high on Arkansas because of Eric Musselman and the Razorbacks’ staff along with other factors, and an official visit to Fayetteville is in the works.
“Coach Muss, Coach Gus (Argenal) and Coach Anthony (Ruta) text me probably every day,” Johnson said. “They look out for me and check with me after every game. They’re some cool guys.”
ESPN 4-star Chris Johnson, 6-4, 175 pounds, played his junior season at Fort Bend (Texas) Elkins and has plans to play his last season in high school at Montverde Academy in Florida.
Having a staff like Arkansas recruit him so hard is special.
“It’s really cool because knowing their recruiting class this year is that good and they want to recruit me next and showing me what I’ll do when I get there,” Johnson said. “It’s a blessing.”
Johnson is working on a date for an official visit to Fayetteville.
“We’ve talked about it, but I think we’re going to go in the fall,” he said. “We just haven’t set up a date. I think I’m going to do all of mine in the fall so I can get on campus and see what it’s like.”
He averaged 20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals per game for the Knights this past season. He plays spring and summer ball with Houston-based JL3 Elite, which is named after former NBA guard John Lucas.
Johnson is averaging 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists in spring and summer ball.
He made an unofficial visit to Fayetteville for the North Texas exhibition basketball game last October.
“I really love their coaching staff, and then when I was on campus, it’s like there’s like no other feeling anywhere,” Johnson said. “It’s just a cool place to go. Fayetteville is a real cool place.”
Seeing how the state focuses on the Razorbacks stands out to Johnson.
“Basically they have no NBA teams, so it’s like Arkansas basketball is their NBA team and then plus the whole city is a college town,” he said. “It’s just a cool place to be.”
He announced Arkansas, Texas, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Texas A&M and Georgia as his top seven schools in November. It was recently reported the Razorbacks and Jayhawks are his top two schools.
“I don’t know why he perceived it that way, but I said they were the two schools that were talking to me most at the time,” Johnson said. “As of right now, they’re most definitely at the top of my list.”
Johnson is rated a high 4-star by ESPN, the No. 6 shooting guard and No. 25 overall recruit in the nation for the 2023 class.
He was invited to the 2022 USA Basketball Men’s U18 FIBA Americas Championship National Team training camp. He took part in the camp last Thursday until Saturday. While he wasn’t a finalist of the camp, he was honored to participate.
“It’s was a blessing just going out there, just going out there and learning from all those high-level coaches and training staff,” said Johnson, who arrived in Louisville on Saturday night for the final two days of Nike EYBL Session III. “It was just a blessing, then going out there and playing with the best players in the world — The 22s and 23s. It was just an overall fun experience.”
Johnson is considering majoring in business in hopes of being a business owner after college and basketball. He’s also a big fan of the Shark Tank television show.
“Ol’ Mark Cuban can get me a deal,” Johnson said with a smile.
He’s been inspired by seeing Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal being successful in the business world.
“Magic Johnson owns a bunch of AMCs (theaters),” Johnson said. “It’s just real cool. You have to find ways to make more money than basketball sometimes. Basketball leads to a lot of things, too.”