Gonzaga commit Dooney Johnson earns Nike EYBL First Team honors

While it has been a frustrating summer for Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs, there have been some bright spots.

Perhaps none are as exciting as the play of 2027 commit Dooney Johnson, who has been on an absolute tear since the high school season ended.

Johnson, a 4-star guard who committed to Gonzaga back in October, just capped off a tremendous performance at Peach Jam in South Carolina, leading Team Herro to the semifinals, where they lost, 84-76, to the Florida Rebels on Saturday.

The 6'7 guard attacked the rim mercilessly in the semifinal loss, dropping 16 points with four rebounds and three assists while shooting 6-11 on twos and 1-2 from the stripe. He struggled to a 1-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, but his playmaking and scoring made him one of the biggest standouts of the weekend - and resulted in EYBL First Team honors for the Milwaukee, WI native.

Johnson, who ranks No. 18 in 247Sports composite class rankings, was joined by guard Beckham Black (2), DeMarcus Henry (4), Lewis Uvwo (7), and MVP Cayden Daughtry (11), who had one of the most impressive performances in the history of this event.

Dooney is delivering

Milwaukee Juneau's Dooney Johnson (1) | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Johnson was the engine for Team Herro all summer long, leading the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game while finishing second in assists (3.0) and third in rebounds (4.4) despite only being fifth in minutes at 23.6 across 22 games played.

He showed improvement as a passer and a strong willingness to attack the basket - although he is still working on finding consistency as an outside shooter, sitting at 26.6% on 5.0 attempts per game.

Johnson and Kager Knueppel (Duke) were the lone members of Team Herro who have committed as of this writing, and both are in the top 25 of the 2027 class.

The 6'7 guard recently confirmed his commitment to Gonzaga, telling Theo Lawson of the Spokesman-Review he cannot wait to get on campus and start competing - although reclassifying to the 2026 class and joining the team this fall did not sound like an option.

Recruit Dooney Johnson takes in the action at Gonzaga’s matchup against Western Oregon. | Photo by Erik Smith

Still, Johnson's elite positional size, facilitation skills, and tenacity on both ends of the floor make him an extremely exciting future piece for coach Few and the Zags - especially if his outside shot continues to come around.

Johnson is the lone commit in the 2027 class as of now, although the team is hard at work pursuing 6'3 5-star combo guard Jalen Davis from Bremerton, WA, and 6'5 4-star wing Gene Roebuck III from La Mirada, CA as well.

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