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Dior Johnson always seemed too good to be true. 

The five-star’s verbal commitment came when he was a 16-year-old high school sophomore at Mayfair High School (CA). He’d gone to camps at Syracuse since he was in seventh grade. He played in the same AAU organization as Buddy Boeheim. 

It was a perfect match, one that would vault the Orange back into national championship contention — if only for one year, until Johnson inevitably declared for the NBA.  

Since then, the No. 1 point guard in his class switched schools twice, suffered a stress fracture in his foot, was rumored to reclassify up a year and said he’d “look at all of my options” if the NBA changes its age requirement for entering the draft. 

So when Johnson announced on Twitter on Tuesday night he’s reopening his recruitment process, central New York let out a collective sigh of disappointment. The most tantalizing, gifted and hyped Syracuse commit since Carmelo Anthony mutually broke up with SU two years before he was set to arrive.

Now he parallels Darius Bazley, who committed to SU in 2018 but spurned the Orange for a $1 million internship with New Balance.

Unlike Bazley, though, the timing of Johnson’s decommitment leaves SU with ample time to replace him. But Johnson was supposed to be a magnet for prospective recruits — he even said in his commitment blog post that he wanted to bring more five-stars with him. Class of 2022 guard Roddy Gayle Jr., the No. 1 recruit in New York who’s announcing his commitment Friday and listed the Orange in his final six, may serve as a litmus test of what’s to come for SU recruiting.

Johnson was not only Syracuse’s highest rated commit since Anthony, but he was also Syracuse’s last five-star, beside Bazley, since Chris McCullough signed on in 2014. Head coach Jim Boeheim’s recruiting success has been much-maligned in recent years, particularly since Mike Hopkins left for Washington in 2017, but Boeheim deserves credit for initially winning over Johnson. 

Yes, he almost certainly won’t end up in Syracuse. But Johnson easily could’ve given his word to Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina or another Blue Blood. Getting a verbal commitment from the best point guard in a class is worth praising.

One line that sticks out in Johnson’s announcement is, “(The SU coaches) have treated me with the utmost respect which is why they will remain one of my top choices.” Committing, decommitting and re-committing to Syracuse appears impossible, but apparently Johnson isn’t shutting the door on that possibility. 

It will surely sting Syracuse fans if Johnson turns around and ends up in Durham or Lexington. But that too seems unlikely. 

If the NBA axes its age eligibility requirements for the 2022 season like commissioner Adam Silver hopes, the prospect of earning millions would likely outweigh any collegiate offer, even from the most storied programs. Even if the NBA isn’t ready to make that change, Johnson would be the perfect candidate — an uber-talented 18-year-old with his academic eligibility reportedly in question — to join the NBA’s revamped G-League program for elite prospects. 

None of the news between Johnson’s verbal commitment in February and his decommitment in November reassured Syracuse fans he’d actually arrive on campus. He transferred from Mayfair to Oak Hill Academy (Va), then injured his foot. In August, he left Oak Hill and eventually landed back in California at Centennial High School. With those moves came reported academic eligibility troubles, adding an extra barrier to playing college basketball. 

That much volatility for a high school junior shortly after making a major life decision — choosing Syracuse — can’t be good. The feeling that Johnson would never make it to Syracuse started as soon as he committed and only got stronger. 

Dior-mania ended before it ever began, but its culmination felt more inevitable than anything.

Published on November 11, 2020 at 6:52 am