At Lake Highlands, one of the nation’s best sophomore basketball players is turning heads

Richard Johnson Jr. doesn’t quite remember if it was four or five years ago — Tyrese Maxey’s junior or senior season at South Garland — that Kentucky coach John Calipari was in Dallas to watch the future Wildcat and eventual NBA player at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest.

He does remember the photo his son took, though.

“He’s sitting on the railing, and he’s taking a photo with coach Cal,” Johnson Jr. said.

According to Johnson Jr., his son, Tre Johnson, captioned the photo: My future coach.

“He dreamed of that a long time ago.”

It’s not quite yet accurate to say things have come full circle. Calipari is still not Johnson’s coach, and Johnson, a 15-year-old sophomore, is still three years away from playing college basketball. But it was hard for Johnson Jr., an assistant coach for the Lake Highlands boys basketball team, to not think of that photo Tuesday night.

Against Richardson, the top team in The Dallas Morning News’ 6A rankings, Johnson scored a game-high 37 points — 14 of which came in the fourth quarter, as Lake Highlands took ESPN’s second-ranked team in the country to the brink of defeat — in a 85-78 loss.

Calipari and Kentucky assistant coach Jai Lucas were there to witness. The Hall of Fame coach sat adjacent to the hoop that Johnson did his fourth-quarter damage on.

“It made it a lot more better,” Johnson said with a smile.

Depending on which scouting service you read, Johnson is either the No. 2 (according to Rivals) or No. 5 (according to ESPN) recruit in the country for the class of 2024. Both consider him the nation’s top shooting guard. He holds scholarship offers from defending national champion Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas.

Johnson, 6-6, averages 23 points per game for Lake Highlands (23-3), The News’ fourth-ranked team in 6A. Since District 7-6A play began this month, he’s ramped his scoring up to 30 points per game. He scored 15.1 points per game a year ago as a freshman.

And the 37-point outing against Richardson in which Johnson drained six 3-pointers? No surprise to those closest to him.

“I think we’re really lucky we get to watch him every day,” Lake Highlands coach Joe Duffield said.

A native of Garland, Johnson Jr. played college basketball at Baylor and Midwestern State in the 1990′s. He transitioned to coaching once his playing days were over and bounced around Dallas ISD before finally landing in Lake Highlands last season. He’s essentially had a full-time job for the last decade as his son’s personal trainer.

Johnson always looked a step or two faster — and an inch or two (or three) bigger — than his peers, even as a third- and fourth-grader. Johnson Jr. always had him play up a year to compensate. Even last summer, Johnson played AAU ball with Team Griffin U-16 and earned second-team recognition at the Peach Jam tournament in Atlanta after averaging 15.8 points, 5 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

“We put him with the older kids, varsity as a freshman,” Duffield said, adding that Johnson used to work out with the high schoolers on weekends when he was in middle school. “You could see, in eighth and ninth grade, that he was going to be really special.”

Even with that pedigree, Johnson’s performance against Richardson was different. It was a sold-out gymnasium, a highly competitive district game. Johnson was guarded in part by five-star Kentucky signee Cason Wallace, whom 247 compares to prolific NBA defensive guard Jrue Holiday.

After a slow start (five first-quarter points), the sophomore settled in with 12 in the second and six more in the third.

“I wasn’t going to shy away from it,” Johnson said. “I was going to play [Wallace] like I play anybody else. I was still going to attack him. I wasn’t going to change anything because it was Cason Wallace.”

Said Johnson Jr.: “I was thinking maybe 20 points, just a solid 20 points ... then he comes out with 37. About a week ago, I was talking to him about the Richardson game. I kind of pushed his buttons, and he was mad at me. ‘I’m going to give him 30, I’m going to give him 30. I don’t care, I’m going to give him 30.’”

Richardson coach Kevin Lawson was asked for his impression of Johnson after Tuesday’s game.

“He’s a great player,” Lawson said.

That’s about as good of a compliment as you’ll get from a coach who needs to game plan against Johnson at least once more this season, and likely for another two years after that.

For Duffield, that’s one of the most intriguing things. The next two years.

“The exciting part to me is that he’s going to keep adding to his game,” Duffield said. “He’s going to keep adding things to his game. It’s very exciting. He’s a young sophomore, and with two years left, the sky is the limit.”

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