Syracuse Basketball: Mike Hopkins gets into mix for five-star Dior Johnson

Five-star point guard Dior Johnson, one of the top players in the 2022 class, de-committed from Syracuse basketball last November, but he could have an Orange connection potentially in his future.

The 6-foot-3 Johnson, a junior at Corona Centennial High School in Corona, Calif., has landed a scholarship offer from Washington, which is led by former long-time ‘Cuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins.

Johnson disclosed this offer via his Twitter page. He also recently said on Twitter that fellow Pac-12 Conference member Oregon has offered him a scholarship.

From a recruiting standpoint, things have appeared relatively quiet for Johnson since he re-opened his recruiting process late last year. Since de-committing from Syracuse basketball, he hadn’t received any new offers until the ones from Washington and Oregon, at least as far as I can tell from looking at his bio on various recruiting Web sites.

A native of Saugerties, N.Y., Johnson is viewed by most recruiting services as a top-five overall prospect in his class, as well as the No. 1 point guard in the 2022 cycle.

Former Syracuse basketball commit Dior Johnson has numerous scholarship offers.

I’m sure that some Orange fans don’t care all that much about Johnson’s new offers, and I totally respect that. Given that Hopkins has offered Johnson, I find that to be intriguing.

In looking at various recruiting Web sites, other offers that Johnson currently owns are from teams such as Alabama, LSU, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Memphis, Ole Miss, Nebraska, St. John’s and TCU.

I am not in Johnson’s inner circle, however, it also wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up forgoing college and heads straight to the professional ranks.

Washington didn’t fare well a stanza ago, although prior to that, in the 2018–19 campaign the Huskies did record 27 victories and arrive in first place within the Pac-12 regular-season standings. Additionally, Hopkins is an ace recruiter and has brought multiple top-flight prospects to Washington in recent years.

As for Oregon, the Ducks made the Final Four in 2017 and are annually a strong contender for Pac-12 glory as well as deep runs in March Madness. Plus, over the past few terms, multiple former Syracuse basketball targets have gone on to play for Oregon.

I wish Johnson all the best, even though he is not coming to Central New York. If he doesn’t go directly to the pros, I’d love to see him suit up for Hopkins and the Huskies.