Higgins Inks with New Mexico State
When a talented point guard suddenly becomes available in the month of May, it doesn’t take long before the wagons of college coaches begin circling. That was certainly the case when Duquesne released Johnny Higgins from his National Letter of Intent earlier this month.
But New Mexico State was quick to pounce and got the talented guard out to their campus last weekend for a visit. On Thursday night, Higgins was once again signing a National Letter of Intent.
The Aggies are landing a very talented player and imposing physical presence, who can play either guard position. Between his ability to knock down open shots from the perimeter, blow by defenders with a quick handle, or power through contact and finish at the rim, there isn’t much this talented guard can’t do when he sets his mind to it.
But what is certainly more impressive than any one skill is Higgins’ long history of winning basketball games. The most important thing for any point guard is to show an ability to guide their team to victory, and Higgins has a long history of doing just that.
It began at Randallstown High School in Maryland, where the home town star led his team to back to back state titles. He was a sophomore during the 2004-2005 season when he averaged 16 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals per game as Randallstown won the Maryland division 3A title. The following year he dominated the competition as he averaged over 28 points per game on the season, along with 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals as his team earned a second state title, this time in division 2A.
After that it was on to Notre Dame Prep where Higgins repeated his junior year. Higgins ran the show as Notre Dame last season, as he quickly emerged as Head Coach Bill Barton’s most trusted guard. The season came to a dramatic conclusion as Higgins and Washington D.C. native Michael Beasley returned to the capitol region to lead Notre Dame to the first ever National Prep Championship. It was Higgins who led the way in the finals as he scored 28 points to lead Notre Dame over Bridgton Academy.
This season, Higgins played for his third head coach in the last three years as Ryan Hurd took over the reigns at Prep. But he once again showed his consistency as Notre Dame had a terrific season and advanced to the semi-finals of the National Prep Championship.
Higgins has had similar success on the AAU circuit with the Cecil Kirk organization. In fact, he led them to the Las Vegas Youth AAU Championship last summer.
His next challenge will be attempting to help New Mexico State return to the NCAA tournament. And although he will be traveling all the way across the country, New Mexico might not feel too far away from home. In fact, current Aggies Paris Carter, Chris Cole, Jahmar Young, and Robert Lumpkins are all players with backgrounds from either the Maryland/DC area or Notre Dame Prep.
Johnny Higgins
Michael Beasley