In a game as ugly as the final score would indicate, undefeated Snow Hill clobbered Kent Island over the weekend, 98-50, at Kent Island.
This game gave TT a second opportunity to observe sophomore point guard Cedrick Johnson, a 5-8 speedster with lots of skills.
It's tough to truly evaluate Johnson, since he plays mainly off the ball for the Eagles (19-0), as senior combo guard Travon Johnson, another D1 recruit, runs the show most of the time. But we still saw many things we liked.
First, Johnson knows how to play basketball, and he has wonderful floor vision, even while playing the wing guard spot.
He finds people, and while only accumulating four assists on the night, we counted another 6 'blown' assists, which easily could have been converted.
Secondly, Johnson has good basketball skills. His handle is tight, he is a pest on defense, he can get past you, and he is a good enough outside shooter as he nailed 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Third, the young man is an athlete. While only 5-8, Johnson, who also plays wide receiver on the Snow Hill football team at less than 150 pounds, has a very quick first step and is very fast. He can push the ball.
Obviously, he does not yet possess ideal point guard size for the high-major level, but still, his speed and quicks do negate that to some extent. Johnson's father, Bryon Johnson, goes about 6-1, and believes his son will grow more.
"He just turned 15, so I am hoping he grows another three inches or so. I think if he can get to 5-11 or so the sky is the limit," said Bryon Johnson. Cedrick Johnson has strong interest in the Terps.
"Ced really likes Maryland, and has for quite a while. He was at Midnight Madness, and also went to the Duke game," said Bryon Johnson. "We are hoping Snow Hill can get back there as a team in a couple weeks. We have a first-round bye, and then a home game, then hopefully we can make the 1A semifinals at Comcast.
"We have heard from coach (Chuck) Driesell through the high school coach, and he is hoping to get out to see Cedrick real soon. Our schedules have made it difficult so far."
Johnson and his talented teammates will face a stern test next Wednesday as they play Cambridge HS for the Bayside Championship at Salisbury University.
Johnson will likely play for Team Melo this spring in the 16-under AAU division.
"That will be good for him to get back to his natural position of point guard," said Bryon Johnson.
The elder Johnson also has his own AAU team, the Maryland Supremes, and they go on the road on occasion.
Johnson has early interest from Maryland, Notre Dame and Clemson, as the Johnson family has ties to Clemson coach Oliver Purnell.
As TT continues its search for a 2010 point guard, we want to see more of Cedrick Johnson. But the early signs are promising.
Interesting to note that Clemson just signed Andre Young, a 5-7 pg from Georgia, this year, and Maryland fans are aware that 5-8 pg Jai Lucas signed with Florida, after a lengthy recruitment which involved the Terps.
Either you can play or you can't. Johnson has certainly shown enough to date to warrant further monitoring. If he gets to 5-11 (Ty Lawson's height), look out. If he doesn't, he is still pretty darn good.
Johnson's stats for the night were 8-15 FGS and 3-6 treys for 19 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 turnovers.
