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"We are really excited to have Cedrick here. He's a great kid and a really good player. If you are open he'll find you. He is a pass-first point guard, very unselfish," said St. John's head coach Silas Cheung. "He is a great fit for what we need. He can really run the offense and take care of the ball. He thinks like a point guard; he makes great decisions on the floor."

Though best known for his ability to handle the ball and pass, Johnson can shoot out to the 3-point arc and is not afraid to drive to the hoop to score and create opportunities for his teammates.

After essentially playing in an all-guard lineup of small players at Snow Hill, Johnson will have the luxury of playing with several big men in the 6-foot-5/6-foot-8 range at SJCP this season.

"It's great getting to play with good big men," Johnson said. "It really opens things up with good big men who can score inside. I can feed them inside, or I can get free to take open jumpers. It's a nice change from playing just with other guards."

Johnson has the experience to help lead SJCP, once known as a national power during the 1990s under legendary coach Stu Vetter when the school was called St. John's at Prospect Hall.

As a freshman in 2006-07, the quick and cerebral Johnson helped Snow Hill reach the Maryland Class 1A Final Four at the Comcast Center. Johnson played AAU basketball with both Team Melo and the Maryland Supreme AAU organizations last spring and summer.

Despite the move, Johnson is adapting quickly to life at St. John's.

"It is really great here at St. John's, I'm real happy here. It's totally different in the classroom and the drills and stuff that we are working on," he said. "I'm working on my ballhandling, my shooting. We emphasize a lot of drills to get improved."

The move has not come without sacrifice for Johnson, who was a wide receiver and defensive back for Snow Hill's football team. He gave up football to focus on academics and basketball at St. John's.

"I kind of miss playing football. When I went home recently, I went to a Snow Hill game and, yeah, I missed the excitement of playing under the lights on Friday night and playing football with my friends," Johnson said. "I miss football, but I want to focus on basketball and my studies now."

St. John's plays basketball in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and is coming off a 14-15 season. Cheung is in his third season as head coach.

James Quinn covers high school basketball for ESPN RISE's MdVarsity.com.