Meet new baseball commit Tanner Johnson
Perhaps the best Christmas gift Tanner Johnson received in 2015 came a day later than expected.
Johnson, who is a junior at South Oldham High school in Crestwood, Kentucky, attended a UK baseball camp on Dec. 26 and put on a performance so impressive that he earned a scholarship offer from head coach Gary Henderson.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder ran a 6.68 60-yard dash—a blazing speed considering the average high school junior runs a 7.74, this according to perfectgame.org. Add in the fact that Johnson is a catcher and his speed is all that more impressive.
A few hours after being offered, Johnson was at dinner with his family when he knew he wanted to be a Wildcat.
“I was just talking with my dad, and I’ve never felt something like that was so perfect before,” Johnson said. “It was just one of those things that you just know.”
Johnson waited a few days and officially committed to UK on Jan. 2. He had taken visits to Northwestern, Western Kentucky and Bellarmine before deciding on UK. Johnson said he’s solid in his commitment to the Wildcats.
“I’m pretty set on UK,” Johnson said. “My entire family is pretty much UK fans. What (UK) has done for the football team and especially the basketball team is just crazy. I’ve had family members who have gone to school there so we know the education is good. That was a big deal for me.”
Of all the people happy to see Johnson commit to UK, his grandmother might have been the most ecstatic. “She was very excited,” Johnson said. “She’s probably the biggest UK fan I know.”
Johnson has a pop-time of 1.85-1.95 as a catcher, but he also spends time playing in the outfield. As a sophomore, he batted .304 with 22 doubles and 18 runs batted in.
South Oldham reached the regional championship last season but lost to Collins. The Dragons return five players who are committed to play baseball in college, so Johnson is expecting another strong season.
Although Johnson is in the 2017 class, he’s gotten to know several other UK commitments. He played summer ball with Georgetown (Ky.) Scott County outfielder Cam Hill and also knows 2016 commitments Brett Marshall and Jaren Shelby. Marshall and Shelby both have siblings who are currently on UK’s baseball team.
The common theme among those players is they are all from the state of Kentucky. For a program that has achieved little success historically, signing the state’s top players and expanding its facilities could help UK reach a new level of baseball success.
UK is currently in the design phase of building a new baseball stadium.
On Jan. 2, the day he committed, Johnson was taken to the location of the new stadium by Henderson. Johnson hopes that the new stadium and future players can help change the perception of UK baseball in the SEC.
“I think it’s going to be big the next few years getting a stadium and rewrite what people know about Kentucky,” Johnson said.