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Ripley’s Chase Johnson could play with WVU basketball team

By Matthew Peaslee

Mar 11, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins watches play against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the Big 12 Conference tournament at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins watches play against the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the Big 12 Conference tournament at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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The WVU basketball team has always been able to have some contributors from around the state of West Virginia.

Currently, there are four native of the Mountain State on the roster. WVU head coach Bob Huggins isn’t shy about attracting West Virginians. In turn, it seems like the Mountaineers are a natural landing spot for the state’s top players.

Related Story: WVU basketball offering top prospects

Incoming freshman Chase Harler is the most recent addition to the native West Virginians. He joins Logan Routt, also from the Ohio Valley. Routt is a 6-foot-11 native of Cameron, who garnered national headlines on the football field for being one of the tallest prep quarterbacks in the country.

Already established on the team are, of course, Nathan Adrian and James Long. Adrian, a Morgantown native, is entering his senior season. He has been able to contribute all four seasons which he has been on the WVU basketball team. Long transferred to the Mountaineers a couple of years ago from Wofford. He, too, is a senior and hails from Charleston.

On the western side of the state sits the small city of Ripley. At Ripley High School, there is a youngster playing basketball who could also be a mainstay in the WVU basketball rotation.

Rising senior Chase Johnson has a wealth of offers to Division I schools, including the homesteading Mountaineers. Johnson is strong like Adrian, athletic like Harler, long like Routt and reliable like Long.

A mix of all the current West Virginians seems to permeate the young blood of a potential Mountaineer. However, Johnson is his own player, first and foremost.

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He stands at 6-foot-7 and checks in at 205 pounds. He stars at center with Ripley, but will fit better into a forward position in college. The Mountaineers offered Johnson back in March and he now has almost 20 offers from great schools like Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Florida, Vanderbilt, Arizona, Clemson, Marquette, Tennessee and Duquesne.

When deciding on his future school, Johnson will have to weigh in many factors including playing time, proximity to home and the coach’s playbook. With Huggins’ predication on a defense-first mentality, Johnson should fit right in.

He is a lockdown defender who is quick and agile. Plus, his offense standards speak for themselves. As a junior, Johnson averaged 17.1 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game and 2.0 blocks per game. His all-around performance has drawn the nationwide attention.

The WVU football team hasn’t had much luck in landing the top prep talent recently. Huggins and WVU head football coach Dana Holgorsen are two different people, though. Huggins is a legend and Holgorsen is still trying to make his mark as a head coach.

Huggins has everything Johnson needs and the track record to prove that he will be a valued member of the WVU basketball team.

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