Amazingly enough, the Evaluation Period is nearing its end. The third and final period is just about to kick into high gear as virtually the entire AAU world will descend upon Las Vegas. During the first two periods, we have learned a ton of great things; not just about prospects, but about where the staff is looking and what their goals are for upcoming cycles. The 2013 class has come into focus after two surprising early commitments and the good news for the staff is that all the the prospects they are targeting have been playing exceptional basketball this summer. Of course, this can also be bad news as the outcome of great basketball is more and more offers and more competitoin.
The Gonzaga prospect that has gotten the most benefit out of the July Evaluation Period has to be Darin Johnson. Playing for the outstanding West Coast team Play Hard Play Smart, Johnson has been tearing up the AAU circuit this summer and he has really started attracting some attention. In fact, in the past couple days, Johnson has added the following offers: Colorado, Arizona State, San Diego State, Oregon, and Utah.
In a recent Rivals article, which actually took place before the slew of above offers, Johnson claimed a top four of Gonzaga, USC, Washington State, and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech was the one school that had yet to extend an offer and Johnson has actually unofficially visited GU, USC, and WSU.
We caught up briefly with Darin last night and were able to confirm that, while he has not figured out his exact official visit schedule, he will definitely be visiting Gonzaga this fall. It remains to be seen how his list shakes out following all these visits and whatever else he picks up after the Vegas live period. With offers from some solid Pac-12 programs and two of the elite Non-BCS progams on the West Coast in Gonzaga and SDSU, Johnson will have some tough cuts to make.
Since the Zags were in on him early and have watched him like a hawk throughout this whole month, we can't help but feel good about Gonzaga's positioning with him. As always, we will keep everyone posted on his recruitment as I'm sure we have not heard the last phrase that begins with "Darin Johnson was offered by....".