Syracuse Basketball: Mike Hopkins, UW a finalist for five-star Dior Johnson

Former Syracuse basketball commit Dior Johnson has named his final five contenders, and Mike Hopkins-led Washington made the cut.

The five-star Johnson, one of the premier prospects in the 2022 class, said via Twitter that he is considering Washington, Alabama, Kentucky, Oregon and the National Basketball League (NBL), which is a professional basketball league based in Melbourne, Australia.

I think a fairly large contingent of Orange fans would agree with me that the 6-foot-3 Johnson is likely headed to the NBL. I just don’t see him ever stepping foot on a college campus, although I’m not in Johnson’s inner circle nor do I pretend to have inside information on his recruiting process.

Per a tweet from Tipton Edits, Johnson isn’t considering suiting up in the NBA’s G League or in the newly created Overtime Elite league. At least for the time being, anyway.

Johnson is a junior at Corona Centennial High School in Corona, Calif. The native of Saugerties, N.Y., is viewed by most recruiting services as a top-five overall player in his class, as well as the No. 1 point guard in the 2022 cycle.

He verbally committed to the ‘Cuse in February of 2020 but then re-opened his recruitment back up last November. Many Orange fanatics had said on social media and in chat rooms that they didn’t think Johnson would ever actually play a game in Central New York.

Former Syracuse basketball recruit Dior Johnson has his list of finalists.

If Johnson does end up going to college, I’m really hoping that he chooses former long-time ‘Cuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins and the Huskies.

Two of his finalists, Pac-12 Conference members Oregon and Washington, recently offered scholarships to Johnson, according to his Twitter page.

Alabama is led by former Buffalo head coach Nate Oats. Alabama was a top-10 team for much of the most recent season and has done well on the recruiting trail of late.

Kentucky is, well, Kentucky. The Wildcats have boasted a bunch of impressive point guards in recent years, and obviously Kentucky sends a lot of prospects to the NBA.

I perused Johnson’s bio on various recruiting Web sites, and I can’t find an official scholarship offer from Kentucky to him. But perhaps one is on the way soon.

Other offers that he has received, per several recruiting services, are from LSU, Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Memphis, Ole Miss, Nebraska, St. John’s and TCU.

I’m rooting for Coach Hop here. But I still think that Johnson will ultimately head straight to the professional ranks.