Johnson has already attended one Gopher game this year and said that Pitino’s style of play reminds him of DeLaSalle’s.
Jarvis Johnson, a 2015 point guard from Minneapolis (MN) DeLaSalle, received a scholarship offer from Minnesota in April. Johnson helped lead the Islanders to its second Class AAA state title as they finished 30-1 and were undefeated against in-state schools.
Gopher Hole recently caught up with Johnson to learn the latest on his recruitment.
Gopher Hole: Anything new on the recruitment front?
Jarvis Johnson: Not anything lately
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to visit any schools lately? I know that you were down to Minnesota a while ago.
Jarvis Johnson: No, not really. I haven’t had a chance to get anywhere else, but I’ll probably just wait until the end of the season to see a couple of more schools.
Gopher Hole: How excited are you to start the season?
Jarvis Johnson: Very excited. I have been waiting since we played in the championship last year. Hopefully, we’ll try to get back there again.
Gopher Hole: You have a couple of early test this year. You play Apple Valley December 7th, What are you expecting from that game?
Jarvis Johnson: I don’t know. I know that it is going to be a sold-out one. It should be pretty fun playing against Tyus, since we played in the summer together, so that should be pretty fun.
Gopher Hole: It will be nice to see the Class AAA champ go up against the 4A champ to see who has the best team. Both of you are big favorites to get back to the championship game
Jarvis Johnson: Yes. That would be really fun. They will probably still be #1 in 4A and we’ll probably still be #1 in 3A since we are different classes, but it should be fun.
Gopher Hole: Have you had a chance to go down to Iowa State to see your sister play yet?
Jarvis Johnson: No, I haven’t. She came home this weekend to visit, but I haven’t.
Gopher Hole: Are you going to try to get down there? Have you thought that far? Is it hard with your schedule now that the season has started?
Jarvis Johnson: No, not really, since Iowa is not that far away, so I’ll try to get to one of the games down there.
Gopher Hole: You had a great season last year and the goals are high for DeLaSalle again to get back and win a third straight title. What are the expectations for the upcoming season?
Jarvis Johnson: I would say that the expectations this year are to just keep our composure and not getting to caught up with being number one in the state. Little things like that.
Gopher Hole: Any plans to go to any Gopher basketball games?
Jarvis Johnson: I don’t know. I am going to try to get down to one of the conference games later on in the year, but I’m not too sure.
Gopher Hole: Have you been to any games yet?
Jarvis Johnson: I’ve been to Lehigh when they played them.
Gopher Hole: What did you think of the new style up close?
Jarvis Johnson: I liked it. I liked the way that they pushed the tempo. It reminded me of us a little bit.
Gopher Hole: Did you see how you could possibly fit in that style of play? Is that a style that would appeal to you?
Jarvis Johnson: Yes. I see it.
Gopher Hole: How many offers are you up to right now?
Jarvis Johnson: I want to say 11 or 12. I’m not too sure.
Gopher Hole: What are you hearing from the Gophers?
Jarvis Johnson: Like I said before, me and Ben Johnson keep in touch since he is a DeLaSalle alum. They just keep telling me the same thing, that they want me really bad.