5-star Dior Johnson details why he and Syracuse basketball weren’t right fit

In an interview with a national recruiting analyst, former Syracuse basketball 2022 commit Dior Johnson discusses why he reopened his recruitment back up after originally giving a verbal commitment to the Orange.

The 6-foot-3 Johnson is a five-star prospect in this cycle, a top-20 overall player, and considered by some recruiting services as the No. 1 point guard in the 2022 class.

This past June, Johnson pledged to Oregon out of the Pac-12 Conference, after having Mike Hopkins-led Washington among his five finalists.

Johnson recently gave a candid interview with Eric Bossi, the national basketball director for 247Sports. They discussed a range of topics, including why he de-committed from the ‘Cuse in November of 2020 after previously giving a verbal commitment to the Orange in February of that year. Let’s take a further look.

Five-star Dior Johnson talks about his de-commitment from Syracuse basketball.

Johnson is from Saugerties, N.Y., and one thing he said to Bossi is that he ultimately didn’t want to go back to New York for college. That’s understandable.

He said in part, “I’m a young kid and some people look at me as this hot commodity to go back home things could have gotten tricky. I wanted to be smart and not put myself in those situations.”

"Johnson said that he had a “great” relationship with the Orange assistant coaches, “but it wasn’t the same relationship with the whole program. You know it is a great program, it is just the relationship wasn’t where I wanted it to be going into college. I wanted to have a real close relationship (with) my head coach and have it be like how we are talking on the phone right now. You know, coach calls me, I call him before I come and stuff just building a great relationship and getting to know each other. I don’t know if I had that over there but I don’t want to take anything away from anybody.”"

After Bossi’s interview with Johnson published, I read a bunch of comments from Syracuse basketball fans in chat rooms, and most of those comments were pretty negative.

For me, Johnson was looking for one kind of relationship, and he didn’t seem to be getting that with the Orange. The player and the team parted ways. It happens. It’s all good.

Ever since Johnson said that he would de-commit from the ‘Cuse, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen Syracuse basketball fans absolutely trash him on social media and in chat rooms. I never understood that.

If you want to be bummed about an elite prospect opting to head elsewhere, I understand that. But Johnson is a teen-ager just trying to make the best possible decision for himself as it pertains to a collegiate destination. What’s wrong with that?

I also commend Johnson for being upfront in his discussion with Bossi. He seems like he’s growing as a basketball player and as a person, and I like that.

Even though Johnson won’t be suiting up on the Hill down the road, I’m rooting for him. He’s spending his senior year at Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., and that prep squad should prove a serious contender for a high-school national title. Best of luck, Dior.