Colleges calling, Cheyenne star listening

In the open court, Elijah Johnson is an exciting play about to happen. He can pull up and effortlessly drain a 3-pointer or fly to the rim for an electrifying dunk.

It's no mystery why the Cheyenne High School junior is considered one of the nation's top point guards in his class.

But good luck trying to solve where he will go to college.

When asked what schools are recruiting him, Johnson said, "Pretty much everybody in the country."

Johnson scored 13 points Sunday night to lift Pump N Run Elite to an 80-78 victory over Utah Pump-N-Run Red in the championship of the Double Pump Spring Classic at Bishop Gorman High.

Carlos Lopez, a UNLV recruit from Findlay College Prep, had 10 points in the win.

There is a chance Johnson could join Lopez and commit to the Rebels. But there also is a chance Johnson could go to Arizona, Kansas, Texas, UCLA or about anywhere else he wants.

"I'm considering UNLV pretty hard," Johnson said. "I would like to stay home, but I don't know just yet."

Lopez, a 6-foot-10-inch forward, had a 27-point game early in the tournament. But he said he was exhausted by the seventh and final game, when he sat out most of the second half.

"Right now, I'm super tired. I just want to go home and sleep," Lopez said. "We have great players on this team. It's what the team can do, and not just yourself."

Pump N Run Elite assistant coach Corey Benjamin said Lopez's skills are "raw" but encouraging.

"I think he has great potential," said Benjamin, who played four years in the NBA and was a first-round draft pick by the Chicago Bulls in 1998. "He can shoot it, and I love his ball fakes. He's ball faking and spinning, and he has good post moves."

The 6-2 Johnson was scoreless in the first half, and was benched early by Pump N Run Elite head coach Jim Harrick.

"He's very talented. He can do it all," Benjamin said of Johnson. "Sometimes you've got to press the right button to get him going."

Johnson scored 10 points in less than four minutes to open the second half, rallying his team from a double-digit deficit. He made three 3-pointers in the half and threw down an impressive dunk.

"Coach pissed me off, so I retaliated like that," Johnson said. "He sat me on the bench the whole first half. I didn't set the tone like I usually do every game. It made him mad, so he made me mad."

Johnson said he expects to select a school in the summer or fall and sign in November.

"Right now I'm not thinking about my recruiting. I ignore it," Johnson said. "I'm just playing ball and doing school work."

UNLV recruit Justin Hawkins, a junior guard from Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft High, helped the Compton Magic win the championship of the Las Vegas Spring Showcase at Spring Valley High.

But Hawkins was bothered by a bruised left knee and scored only eight points in his team's 100-81 victory over Belmont Shore (Calif.).