IU Basketball Recruiting: Class of 2021 Names to Know — Top 100 Wing Johnathan Lawson

Indiana has their center and point guard in the junior class. Now they are looking to complete the rest of the 2021 puzzle.

Head coach Archie Miller has established a pattern with the type of players that he recruits, and two of the common attributes are length and intelligence.

Memphis wing Johnathan Lawson can check both of those boxes, and according to his uncle, IU is showing heavy interest.

Wooddale High School/Hoop City 2021 Guard Johnathan Lawson has received offers from LSU and Arkansas today with heavy interest from Syracuse and Indiana as well…expect offers from both by week's end pic.twitter.com/fmJb0tfTyG

— Chuck Lawson (@ChuckLawson901) April 27, 2020

The Commercial Appeal also noted Indiana’s interest in Lawson, who was named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year for the 2019-20 season, and the Class AA Mr. Basketball.

Playing for Wooddale High School, the 6-foot-7, 180-pound junior forward led the Cardinals to a 27-6 record and a berth in a Class AA state tournament quarterfinals before the season ended prematurely.

Lawson averaged 25.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks through 33 games as Wooddale pursued its second straight state title.

Lawson is a highly efficient scorer, making 64 percent of his attempts from the field overall, and 48 percent from three-point range.

According to the Gatorade Player of the Year release, Lawson is an avid chess player, and he has volunteered locally as a peer tutor and as part of elementary school literacy programs. Lawson has also maintained an A average in the classroom.

Often referred to as a point forward, Lawson is long, can handle the ball and he’s very skilled.

Lawson is the No. 5 junior in Tennessee and the No. 87 junior in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite. He has offers from Vanderbilt, Alabama, Missouri and LSU among others. Memphis, Syracuse and Kansas are other schools to keep and eye on.

Hailing from a basketball family, Johnathan is the youngest of four brothers.

Dedric Lawson is currently with the Austin Spurs of the NBA G-League. KJ Lawson played at Memphis and Kansas before transferring to Tulane this season. Chandler Lawson just wrapped up his freshman year at Oregon.