Avery Johnson expects to visit Kansas in June

Avery Johnson will be one of the most sought-after 2023 recruits in Kansas. Earlier this week Johnson talked Kansas with head football coach Lance Leipold, who made it clear the Jayhawks offers still stands.

Leipold has finalized his staff and lately has been reaching out to several local prospects. He spoke with the Maize standout on Tuesday.

“It went really well,” Johnson said. “I mean, at first I got on the phone with coach Schooney (Schoonover) and he introduced me to Coach Leipold and then I got on the phone and they were just talking to me. They made it very clear that the offer that I got from the old KU coaching staff was still on the board. And I think we worked out a time and I'm going to try to get up to KU.”

The Kansas coaches are making it known they plan to recruit the state and the Kansas City area. Johnson said it was good to hear from the Jayhawks and a lot of his conversations to this point have been with Kansas State when it comes to local schools.

“So far I've really only been talking to Kansas State because KU has been trying to get that whole coaching situation filled out,” he said. “And obviously whenever you are a new coach, you have to worry about your players that are already there first and make sure they're taken care of. So, I understand that, so I've just kind of been patient to be able to get on the phone and talk to them. And now that it's finally happening, it's just a cooler experience to have.”

Jake Schoonover has been staying in touch with Johnson during the coaching transition.

“He was the coach that pretty much reached out to me and my coaches and wanted to make it very clear that he wanted to get on the phone with me,” Johnson said of Schoonover. “He's a really cool guy and a really good coach. And I just thanked him for trying to stay in touch with me because during the baseball season, he was trying to get a hold of me, and I was even more busy during baseball season. He was really flexible with my schedule and he was very helpful.”

Johnson is going to pack a lot of visits in the month of June. He said he will visit Kansas State on June 1 and after that will see several schools with his seven-on-seven team.

The tour will have visits to Georgia, Florida State, Arkansas and several others. After that concludes he plans to take an unofficial visit to Kansas on June 20.

Johnson, who is a quarterback, plays three sports at Maize. This summer he is going to cut back on basketball because of a busy schedule but will still focus on baseball and football.

“The first two weeks of June, I'm going on the tour with my some of my seven-on-seven teammates and we're touring like 11 different schools,” he said. “June is kind of a busy month for me, but I'm not playing any summer basketball this year because it's kind of getting to be too much. And from the beginning of June all the way to the end of July I have a baseball tournament every weekend.”

TCU was the first school to offer Johnson and the recruiting has been consistent ever since. There are several schools all over the country showing interest in him, but it has not stopped him from working hard.

“When the first one happened, I was thankful and blessed,” Johnson said. “It shows all your hard work has kind of paid off, but at the same time my dad just told me, ‘Don't let this distract you. Just because you got an offer doesn't mean you can stop working. Everything's not going to be handed to you now.’

Johnson added: “So I couldn't let my work ethic or anything like that change. I just kind of got to be the same person, stay humble, keep a level head, and keep doing what I've been doing.”

He is going to have a lot of options when it comes to choosing a college. In the end his relationship with the coaches will play a big factor.

“My relationship with the coaches has to be the most important thing,” he said. “And it's not just the quarterback coach or the offensive coordinator. I want to be able to have a good relationship with all of the offensive coaches, all the defensive coaches, the special team coaches, and everybody. I want to have a good relationship with all the people that I'm going to be around for the next three or four years of my life and the rest will pretty much take care of itself.”