Max Johnson to take talents to Indiana

Max Johnson SS / 2B / Mason, OH / 2021

MASON - A standout shortstop that switch hits … and he is only a sophomore.

It all added up to soaring interest in Max Johnson.

Schools like Coastal Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Xavier, Cincinnati, Kent State, Ohio State, Ohio U and Kentucky were all recruiting the 11th-rated 2021 player in Ohio.

But then Indiana came into the picture and the Mason sophomore knew it was right for him.

“Indiana was one of the later schools that jumped in toward the end,” Johnson said of his recruitment. “It came after the Future Games. Then they looked at me in Jupiter and I went to a camp there in the fall. I loved the campus and the direction of the program.”

A commitment to the Big 10 school followed.

“I liked the personality of the coaches,” Johnson explained about what appealed to him with IU. “I felt really connected with them. A lot of what they are teaching players to do is similar to what I’ve been doing my whole life.

“They preached winning and developing and I liked that. They have a plan where they want the program to go that looks right and I think they will get there.”

Johnson will be part of it, to the delight of the Indiana coaches.

“They like my athleticism,” the fourth-ranked sophomore shortstop in Ohio said of the Hoosiers. “They like my defense at short and my speed. They also like that I’m a competitor.”

Johnson saw competition up close and personal during his recruiting process.

“It all started last fall with the Wooden Bats in Palm Beach,” Johnson reflected. “That’s when a lot of interest happened. And then the Future Games, that took me from being interest in to getting offers.”

Size was an area many talked about with Johnson.