Maize quarterback Avery Johnson plans to narrow college recruiting list this month
Avery Johnson isn’t always around to celebrate when the Maize boys basketball team wins one of its Friday games.
It’s not that he doesn’t want to be there, having fun with his teammates like an average high school student. It’s just that his weekends as a touted football recruit are often too hectic for something like that.
Such was the case following a recent basketball game against Derby. As soon as the final buzzer sounded, he was in a car with his parents driving east. His destination: Fayeteville, Arkansas for an unofficial visit with the Razorbacks. He spent Friday night traveling, then toured campus on Saturday and returned home late Sunday. It was back to high school and basketball practice on Monday.
That is a typical weekend for Johnson.
“It’s taken a little bit of a toll on my body,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “I’ve had to learn to stay hydrated and eat a little bit better. It wasn’t just Arkansas. We flew to Oregon and some other places before that. I remember talking to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell once and he asked me how many schools I visited. I didn’t even have answer for him. It’s hard to keep track. But it’s been worth it. You only get to do this once and my family is very supportive. I am blessed.”
Things are unlikely to slow down until he commits to one of the 20-plus colleges that have offered him a scholarship. Johnson, a 6-foot-3 and 170-pound quarterback, is one of the top 2023 prospects in the Sunflower State, if not the nation, after guiding Maize to the Kansas 5A state championship game as a junior.
His dual-threat talents have made him a recruiting priority for Kansas and K-State. They have also earned him offers from high-profile schools such as Florida State, Notre Dame and Tennessee.
A college football recruiter is almost always in the stands during his basketball games. Maybe they will show up for some his baseball games, too.
Funny thing about that, Johnson hoped to be done with the recruiting process by now. When his first scholarship offers were rolling in last summer, he said he planned to make an early decision and help his future college team by becoming one of the first members of its 2023 class.
His plans changed when coaches started leaving for different jobs and transfers began switching teams. He decided to hit the pause button.
“It’s hard for me to make a decision when I don’t know who I’m going to be committing to, because so many different coaches are going all over the place,” Johnson said. “That kind of set me back. I am going to let everything settle down. The biggest thing for me right now is trimming my list this month. I want to sit down with everyone involved with my recruiting process and get my list down down to five or six schools so I can focus on them instead of talking to 20 different schools all the time.”
Johnson didn’t offer many clues about which schools would make his list of finalists, but it’s safe to say Arkansas, Kansas and K-State will all be included.
He said those three schools have been recruiting him the hardest lately, along with Iowa State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
“There are about 12 schools that are recruiting me hard,” Johnson said, “so that is really what it’s going to come down to whenever I narrow my list in the next few weeks. How well do I see myself fitting in with those schools? How good of a relationship do I have with their coaches? Those are things I am going to be thinking about.”
Johnson said he likes hearing from the Jayhawks, because he is a big fan of their coaching staff.
“KU has some of the best coaches I have talked to,” Johnson said. “You can tell they really care about their players.”
K-State has been recruiting Johnson longer than any other school, and Johnson has made several visits to Manhattan. He has plenty of good things to say about the Wildcats, including the fact that they recently promoted Collin Klein to offensive coordinator.
“Coach Klein is such a genuine person,” Johnson said. “I can’t wait to see what he does with their offense next season.”
Johnson will have the opportunity to leave his home state and play college football anywhere from the Pac-12 to the SEC, but he is also comfortable with the idea of playing close to his family at the next level for Lance Leipold or Chris Klieman.
“Whenever I talk to Coach Leipold or Coach Klieman they do a great job of asking how my family is doing and asking how I’m doing,” Johnson said. “They aren’t necessarily trying to get me to commit. They go the extra mile and are some incredible people.”
Johnson doesn’t know when he will make his college decision. Perhaps some clarity will come after he selects a handful of finalists, and his weekends are no longer devoted to travel.