When last we saw Dakari Johnson on the high school circuit, he was a member of the Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick team that lost the mythical national championship game to Kyle Anderson and St. Anthony in March 2011.
That squad also featured Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who is now less than two weeks away from becoming a lottery pick in the NBA Draft.
When that season ended in disappointment and heartbreak for the Celtics, the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Johnson left New Jersey and followed St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle down to Montverde (Fla.) Academy.
After sitting out all of last season due to transfer rules, Johnson, a Brooklyn native ranked No. 6 among centers in the Class of 2014 by Rivals, is anxious to get it cranked back up and play again this upcoming season.
“It was tough at first, but I got accustomed to it,” Johnson said of the transfer from Colorado Springs, Colo., where he hopes to make the USA Men’s U17 World Championship Team.
“Me sitting out was hard but I sucked it up and I just got in the training room with my trainer and we worked out like two times a day and just got my body in shape.”
Boyle, whose team lost the ESPN National High School Invitational final to Findlay Prep, is anxious to get Johnson on the court along with Florida-bound 2013 point guard Kasey Hill and 2014 shooting guard D’Angelo Russell.
“[Johnson] is legitimately one of the best big kids in the country in terms of drawing fouls on the other players,” Boyle told SNY.tv. “Aside from scoring and rebounding he usually puts the best four or five [on the other team] on the bench because of foul trouble. So he’s helping the team defensively by putting the other team’s starters on the bench because he’s so massive and skilled at getting fouls.
“We have a chance to be really, really good. We have an All-American point guard and an All-American center and other good players around.”
Like Boyle, Johnson has been affiliated with teams in back-to-back years that lost a high school national championship game.
Now, he wants to put that behind him and win one.
“I’m looking forward to this year,” Johnson said. “I think we’ll be able to good things at Montverde. We got Kasey Hill, D’Angelo Russell and we got some new transfers, so our goal is a national championship.”
As far as colleges go, Johnson said he’s being pursued by Kentucky, Syracuse, Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State and Florida, among others.
“I won’t have a list until the end of July,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s mother, Makini Campbell, an English teacher at Montverde, is handling her son’s recruitment.
She said she heard on Friday from Syracuse, Florida, Kentucky, Kansas, Stanford, Georgetown, Ohio State and Louisville.
For now, Johnson is excited to be representing USA Basketball and hopes to make the cut on Sunday.
“It’ll feel great just having a chance to represent my country and just playing for that gold medal,” he said. “It will be a real accomplishment for me just to represent the country.”
