After showing promise as a supplemental scoring piece and providing backcourt depth on a talented St. Raymond's team led by the high-scoring tandem of Brandon Stores Jr. (Georgia Tech) Tai Turnage (Quinnipiac), and Class of 2027 guard Zaire Johnson (St Raymond, NY '27) has taken off this spring/summer.
Leading a gritty Kips Bay team alongside teammate Hassan Cisse (St Raymond, NY '26) on the AAU circuit. Johnson has been a primary ball handler who can operate off the ball and pick his spots effectively. This weekend, after a considerably impressive showing at Fairleigh Dickinson University Elite Camp, the East Harlem native made FDU his first Division-I offer.
The 5-foot-10 point guard plays with an abundance of energy on both sides of the ball. Johnson has been a blanket defender with a major presence in his one-on-one defensive and instinctive on-ball tactics. He's got a feel for the game that's beyond his years and an adeptness for sticking the pull-up jumper. As his game has grown, the rising junior has become more aggressive in his surges to the rim, as he's learned to embrace and finish through contact.
Part of Johnson's evolution has been showing he can manage a high-paced offense and score during crucial transitions of the game. Using his quickness and slithery, stealth tendencies. With the aforementioned, now gone tandem of Stores and Turnage, St. Ray's was led by a pair of four-year starters who had been entrenched in their fair share of hyper-intense battles.
Johnson will help fill the void left by both Stores, who scored 2,000+ points during his illustrious stay with the program, and the offense's operating, shot-making Turnage. Johnson will play a vital role in keeping St. Ray's in the upper crust of a CHSAA "AA", which returns a wealth of talent and heavily recruited prospects.
The Class of 2026 Cisse, who has played alongside Johnson at both St. Raymond's and with Kips Bay, has been a shifty, crafty, and hard-driving guard. Like Johnson, he's thrust into a prominent role for the Ravens next season. The program also returns Luis Carillo-Moss (St Raymond, NY '26), a versatile 6-foot-8 forward who stuck five 3-pointers during St. Ray's wild, overtime loss to Stepinac in last year's city championship. The first official offer comes in due time for Johnson, who has been a breakout AAU performer.
FDU is currently under third third-year head coach, Jack Castleberry. The program underwent a rough season in 2024-25, piling up a 13-20 overall record and going 8-8 in the Northeast Conference.
