UCLA Men's Basketball Offers Emerging Texas Combo Guard Chris Johnson

Johnson had previously trimmed him list down to seven schools, but the Bruins are one of several teams making a push to insert themselves into the guard's recruitment.
In this story:

One of the top prospects from the Lone Star State has hauled in an offer from the Bruins.

Class of 2023 guard Chris Johnson cut his list of schools down to seven in November, but after blowing up onto the scene during the spring, plenty of new offers have come rolling in. UCLA men’s basketball offered the 6-foot-5 playmaker on Monday, according to Johnson’s Twitter.

The Bruins join Alabama, UConn, Creighton, Georgia, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, New Mexico State, Ole Miss, Prairie View A&M, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Southern in offering Johnson.

Content is unavailable

UCLA is the only school west of his home state of Texas to offer Johnson.

Johnson previously had Arkansas, Georgia, Houston, Kansas, LSU, Texas and Texas A&M as his top seven.

After spending his first three seasons at Fort Bend Elkins High School (TX), the combo guard announced in May that he would be transferring to Montverde Academy (FL) for his senior year. Johnson will play alongside five-star 2023 forward Kwame Evans Jr. and 2025 forward Cooper Flagg, both of whom also hold offers from UCLA.

Across 36 games in his junior year at Fort Bend Elkins – including an undefeated conference slate – Johnson averaged 19.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

Johnson plays for JL3 Elite on the Nike EYBL circuit, where he has emerged as a top national prospect over the past few evaluation periods. Most recently, Johnson appeared at the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas, showing off his abilities as a high-flying dunker in several viral highlights.

The 247Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals all have Johnson pegged as a four-star prospect, but his ranking varies among the trio of services. Rivals has the Missouri City, Texas, native listed the lowest at No. 47 in the class of 2023, while ESPN and the 247Sports Composite have Johnson ranked at No. 25 and No 28 respectively.

247Sports Recruiting Analyst Brandon Jenkins provided a scouting report for Johnson in March, pegging Johnson as a future Power Five starter.

“A versatile scoring and playmaking guard with a solid dose of explosiveness, Johnson simply has that alpha male mentality. He is known for his work ethic, but also just knows how to play on both ends with a good natural instinct for the game. A gifted passer, Johnson has an excellent feel for the game and matching skills with great size. He can impact the game as a secondary ball handler as he has the feel, touch, and vision to be an effective playmaker. Defensively, he is known for being the ultimate competitor and it shows in the way he competes on that end.”

The Bruins are squarely in the hunt for several top prospects, and Johnson is poised to join that group as coach Mick Cronin looks to build out a likely large incoming class for 2023. There could be as many as eight scholarship spots open next offseason, and while UCLA has sent out 25 offers, it still does not have a commitment.

All but two of the targets are four or five-star recruits, and 16 of them remain uncommitted, so there is still plenty of room for Cronin to build out a deep and highly-rated class in the months ahead. Johnson could figure to be a significant piece of that class should he loop the Bruins into his inner recruiting circle or take a visit to Westwood in the near future.

Follow Royer on Twitter at @thebenroyer
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated


Published
Benjamin Royer
BENJAMIN ROYER

Benjamin Royer is a contributing writer at All Bruins, in association with the FanNation and Sports Illustrated networks. Royer is a third-year student at UCLA, where he is a Sports contributor for the school's award-winning student-run newspaper, The Daily Bruin. Royer was previously the Sports Editor at The Valley Star, Los Angeles Valley College's independent newspaper, and he helped develop the Twinger Talk YouTube channel and The Double Play podcast. He is also a professional actor, previously appearing in programs on Showtime, ABC, Disney Channel, FOX and CBS.