MN Daily: Senior Jarvis Johnson an unheralded leader for the Gophers

BleedGopher

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per the Daily:

In 2015, Jarvis Johnson came to the Gophers as the crown jewel of head coach Richard Pitino's recruiting class.

Of the five players Pitino granted a scholarship to that year, Johnson had the highest recruiting grade according to ESPN. He was the first Minnesota native who committed to the program under Pitino's tutelage.

Although he celebrated senior night with the team at Williams Arena for the final home game of the season, the highly-touted recruit never got to suit up for the Gophers on the arena's signature raised floor.

"Jarvis was the first guy we set out to get in the Twin Cities," Pitino said. "We felt like we needed him, he fit our style of play, we loved him as a kid. We really worked hard to get him, and unfortunately, he wasn't cleared."

Following an incident in eighth grade, during which Johnson went into cardiac arrest and needed to be revived, he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Team doctors didn't clear Johnson to play prior to his freshman season at Minnesota, citing health concerns.

Other schools have since cleared players with HCM to participate in games; however, Minnesota's medical staff never allowed Johnson to take the court for the Gophers. Instead of testing the possibility of another school clearing him, Johnson chose not to transfer.

"The main focus was to obviously play," Johnson said. "But I knew the education here was good, and just the culture around the whole team. I wanted to be a part of something special, honestly. I think we had ups and downs and we made memories that will last a long time."

https://www.mndaily.com/article/2019/03/spmbjarvisjohnson

Go Gophers!!
 

Knew we were going to win when Jarvis got introduced with the starters. That was a cool moment and great idea.
 

#FREE12

I was so stoked when he committed. Program changer.
 




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