Boyle compared Johnson favorably to current Kentucky center Nerlens Noel.
“The big kid that Kentucky has now is a more athletic player, but Dakari’s definitely further along in his basketball IQ,” he said. “If he was at Kentucky now, he’d be getting very good numbers as a freshman.”
Makini Campbell, Johnson’s mother and a teacher at Montverde, told SNY.tv last week that Kentucky remains a strong option for her son because of the family’s connections to Lexington.
“Actually, last Thanksgiving we spent time with his friends there, with his extended family,” she said. “So for him that is kind of like going back to something that ‘s very familiar and something that is likable.”
Johnson also played alongside former Kentucky star Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at St. Pat’s, when the Celtics lost to St. Anthony in the mythical national championship game in 2011. St. Pat’s 2010-11 season, Boyle’s last in New Jersey, was documented in the film, Prayer For a Perfect Season.
Campbell also indicated that the family had “question marks” about a couple schools on his list that already have centers on their roster or committed for 2013. Syracuse and Kansas fall into that category.
“Some schools will probably not be in the mix because of some players that signed, and also whether or not schools have availability [of scholarships],” she said. “We looked at some schools that they tend to have had verbal commitments from players that are very similar to Dakari, so now he’s kind of getting the thought, ‘Well, maybe that’s not really the school that I may want to consider.'”