Jasper Johnson leads Link Academy basketball past The Burlington School at Quincy Shootout

Johnson earns MVP honors after scoring 24 points

QUINCY, ILLINOIS – It’s not always easy for Jasper Johnson as the top junior prospect on a Link Academy basketball team loaded with seniors committed to some of the top programs in college basketball.

A dynamic 6-foot-4 combo guard ranked by 247Sports as the No. 10 prospect nationally in the Class of 2025, the Kentucky native has to listen to regular recruiting pitches from his teammates in addition to those from college coaches from coast to coast.

“They do,” Johnson said, laughing, as teammates nearby messed with him. “They all push me a little bit. Shell (Jalen Shelley) and Arkansas. JB (James Brown) is my roommate so he pushes North Carolina all the time. They all put some info into my ears to contribute to their schools.”

Johnson showed why he is such a sought-after prospect on Saturday night when he scored a game-high 24 points in Link Academy’s 80-52 win over The Burlington School (North Carolina) at the Quincy Shootout.

Johnson, who was named the game’s most valuable player, had a near-perfect game. He made all eight of his field-goal attempts, including knocking down all five of his 3-point tries. His only blemish was missing one of his four free throw attempts.

“He’s been great,” Link Academy coach Bill Armstrong said. “I think he’s our second-leading scorer, leads us in 3-pointers made. He’s really, really improved defensively. That’s where he’s taken the right step in the right direction over the last month. Offensively, he’s one of the best players in the country. I personally believe he’s the best shooter in the country. He makes hard ones look easy.

“We run that action now anytime people press us where we flash the big and stack that side and pitch it to him and I think he’s made every single one of them and that’s not an easy shot – nobody works on that. That’s just how good he is and how good his touch is from shooting the ball. We have so many weapons from our guard spot.”

Vote: Who was the top high school basketball player at the Quincy Shootout?

The No. 5 team in the SBLive Sports/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national basketball rankings, Link Academy (19-4) has plenty of options all over the floor.

In addition to Johnson’s 24 points, the Lions got 10 points and eight rebounds from senior forward James Brown (North Carolina signee), nine points from senior point guard Labaron Philon (Kansas signee) and eight points from Tre Johnson (Texas signee). Senior combo guard T.O. Barrett (Missouri signee) added six assists, six rebounds and five points in the victory.

Jasper Johnson said he’s currently trying to plan a couple official visits and plans to drop a top-eight or top-10 list soon.

His list of scholarship offers includes homestate Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Baylor and many more and he’s already taken official visits to West Virginia, Georgia Tech and Missouri.

Two weeks ago Johnson scored 37 points – with 10 3-pointers – in front of Kentucky coach John Calipari in a win over Huntington Prep (West Virginia) in his first game back in his old gym in Kentucky.

“On any given night, me, Labaron (Philon), Tre (Johnson), Jalen (Shelley), James (Brown), it could come to anybody,” Johnson said on Saturday night. “It was able to come to me tonight, but I feel like we’re being unselfish, playing good with each other and feeding off each others’ energy and that’s what’s allowing us to win.”

And allowing Johnson and his teammates to get better since they all arrived at Link Academy last summer as the Lions, last year’s GEICO national champions, completely rebuilt their roster.

“They’ve helped me a lot,” Johnson said of his teammates. “Just talking to each other, working out with each other, seeing what they do better and what I can do good. Learning from them, learning from me. Staying connected with each other and finding our chemistry throughout the season. I know we all left and at our previous high schools we were all the best player and the man, so coming here and distributing the ball with each other and being unselfish is really keeping us happy with each other.”

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Link Academy secured two more wins in Quincy – the Lions defeated Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy on Friday – to remain undefeated this month. 

Armstrong said he's happy with where his team is after a busy and difficult stretch of games throughout December. Now Link Academy heads back home to Branson, Missouri, with some time to prepare for the final weeks of the season with the goal of making another run at a GEICO national championship. 

“These guys, they are going away from home for the first time and figuring things out," Armstrong said. "That’s why it’s so big for them. It prepares them for college. Now they are starting to learn how to play off each other offensively."

"Defensively we’ve fixed a few things that were bothering us early. I think we’re now six straight games holding opponents under 60 points. I’m extremely pleased with the direction we’re going. We have a lot of practice time. I think we have eight games left. So we have a lot of practice time. We’ll be ready to roll when GEICO comes around.”

Josh Randolph, a 6-7 senior forward, led The Burlington School with 15 points on five 3-pointers on Saturday night. Zion Walker, a senior guard, added 14 points. 

Link Academy - The Burlington School boys basketball

Photos by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive Sports

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz