Flurry of Visits for Johnson

Marques Johnson could be a travel agent once his basketball days are over. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound point guard from Ft. Wayne (Ind.) Snider High School has made the rounds within his home state as well as across the country on the official visit trail prior to the start of the season.

Johnson, who is ranked as the No. 77 player in the class of 2006, made it a point to see a host of schools before playing his junior season. He was a visiting machine in fact, making stops at Indiana twice, Notre Dame, Purdue, Illinois, Georgetown and Oklahoma. He said he may take a trip to Georgia Tech after the season. For now, his bags are unpacked.

“I think I’ll be done for a little while,” Johnson said.

When players make that many visits in a short amount of time, it usually means they are working on a decision. Not the case, Johnson says.

“I have some interest in all of them so I wanted to get out there and get a feel for them,” he said. “I can’t say any one school really caught my eye because there were a lot of things that I liked about all of them. One school had this and one school had that but there wasn’t just one that really stood out.”

While there wasn’t one school that rose above the rest, a trio of programs did impress the even tempered prospect.

“Illinois, Oklahoma and Georgetown - I like those three a lot,” Johnson said. “Illinois and Oklahoma’s facilities are just ridiculous. With Georgetown, I like their new staff. They are brand new and came in and made a big impact pretty early.”

Johnson said “pretty much all of them” have offered a scholarship or gave the proverbial “if you want to play here, we have a spot for you” invitation. He said he’s not in a hurry to decide. With the trips put on the shelf for now, Johnson is back to improving his already talented skill set.

“My defensive game most definitely,” he said. “I feel like my explosion is getting better. It seems like I’m getting to the basket a lot more this year.”

Johnson and his Snider teammates have a big challenge on their hands on Dec. 11 when the team plays Lawrence North High School of Indianapolis featuring Greg Oden and Mike Conley.