Courtesy of Adam Zagoria and SNY
Heads up, this news is a little late. Johnson's commitment actually occurred on Saturday, but I was a bit, uh, indisposed this weekend with the holiday, as I'm sure most of you were. So that's why we're few days late with this. No worries though Tyrone, bring us a title and we'll call it even!
2011 Point Guard Tyrone Johnson of Plainfield, NJ has committed to Jay Wright and the Villanova Wildcats! Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog has the story on the 2nd (3rd if you remember Markus Kennedy is taking a PG year) committment in Villanova's 2011 class. Johnson chose the Cats over the Georgetown Hoyas and Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Johnson is ranked the 50th best player in the Rivals150 for 2011, and at 6'3", will represent a step-up in height in Villanova's backcourt.
For Tyrone's thoughts on joining Villanova, as well as good-friend and future teammate Achraf Yacoubou, see you after the jump.
Johnson on his committment:
"I’ll be going to Villanova University," the 6-foot-3, 189-pound Johnson said." I chose Villanova because it’s a great program. Coach Wright is real great at what he does. I think Villanova is a great fit for me and my family as well and I think it can take me to the next level and where I want to be."
On playing his college ball with Yacoubou:
"Me and Ach went to NBA [Top 100] Camp together so we got a good relationship," Johnson said. "My role is just basically to be a hard worker and come in and play. It depends on if Maalik Wayns is still going to be there. If he’s not there, then I’ll just be coming as a freshman point guard starting. Even if he is there, I’ll still have a chance coming and playing big minutes.
"Ach coming in as a straight shooter, I think me and him will have some great chemistry in the backcourt."
Derrick Bobbitt (Coach and Mentor) on Johnson:
"If Ty continues to improve at the rate he’s improving he can have an immediate impact as a freshman," Bobbitt said. "He’s a relatively big guard who can keep pressure on the defense a lot like Rajon Rondo with his play-making ability on the offensive end and can potentially create havoc on defense with his length and athleticism."
This is obviously a huge, huge pickup for our program. Not only is Johnson and outstanding player, but he's an outstanding player at a position of dire need. Corey Fisher is definitely gone, and there is already NBA-talk surrounding Maalik Wayns, so who knows if he'll stick around past this year.
Welcome to the family Tyrone!