CLEVELAND, Ohio -- When Chet Mason watches East Tech sophomore Markell Johnson play, he sees the blueprint.
Johnson is a Cleveland city kid who went to Cleveland city schools and is now receiving serious basketball interest from high-major programs. He can go somewhere that few on that path ever do.
"Markell can be a pioneer to open up the gates so schools will come and see the type of talent that is in the city," Mason said. "His name is known around the city. Young kids want to be like Markell."
Unlike so many before him, Johnson can actually use basketball to take him places. The 6-foot point guard is already receiving interest from high-major schools like Michigan State, Indiana and West Virginia.
Those types of schools almost never recruit a player from a Cleveland city school.
"It's rarer now than it used to be, and it seems to get rarer every year," said ESPN recruiting analyst John Stovall. "It's exciting when they do."
An athletic point guard who can shoot, pass and get to the basket, Johnson has the kind of upside that grabs a coach's attention.
Stovall cannot remember a Cleveland city player in the last few decades to go from high school to a high-major college, but believes Johnson can do it.
"I can unequivocally say he's a top-20 point guard nationally," Stovall said. "He's probably top-10, but I wouldn't want to say that without evaluating him against other top-10 guys."
What gives Johnson the chance to be unique are his similarities to other Cleveland kids. He is the youngest of seven children and was raised by his mother, Sabrina, on Cleveland's west side. He went to Cleveland public schools his whole life -- Joseph M. Gallagher then Orchard then East Tech.
He feels like he's been a part of this city since before he was born.
"I've lived here more than my whole life," Johnson said. "I love Cleveland."
The last person to garner the attention that Johnson has was Mason, who won Ohio's Mr. Basketball in 2000. Despite the award, Mason did not receive much high-major interest and landed at Miami (Ohio).
Mason says that while other local recruits had a dozen college coaches coming to watch them play, he was lucky if one coach would swing by the gym.
"They were reluctant to come down there," Mason said. "They heard so many stories about the city, and that probably scared them off."
Mason added that a Cleveland city player must overcome obstacles that other players don't have. Schools don't stay open late so you can work out in the gym or weight room and sometimes you need to share the gym with the girls basketball team.
Stovall says that academic worries can impact a college's decision. According to a 2013 report from the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland, 57 percent of Cleveland Metropolitan School District students immediately enroll in college.
Because of these factors, it's common that top basketball talent will leave the Cleveland public schools before high school. For example, senior Carlton Bragg, the highest-ranked player in the Cleveland area, would have been a Cleveland public school student had he not enrolled at Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
"Those kids tend to end up at a suburban school or a private school," Stovall said.
The East Tech program has tried to break the mold for what is expected out of Cleveland basketball. It reached the state semifinal last season for the first time since 1972 and wants to establish itself as a perennial state title contender.
"At the end of the day colleges want winners," said East Tech coach Brett Moore. "I try to produce kids who have winning attitudes and understand it takes more than just scoring to win."
What the East Tech program is missing, though, is a player to hang its hat on and say was able to earn a Division I scholarship at East Tech. That's where Johnson, who hit the game-winning jumper to send the team to Columbus last season, comes in.
"He's opening the floodgates for a lot of the guys," Mason said. "For instance, I look at Glenville football. The floodgate is open so no matter what, colleges come there. They probably hear so many bad stories, but they still come there."
And while coming from a Cleveland city school has been a hindrance for some in the past, Johnson believes it's the reason for his success.
"This could have never happened if I didn't go here and played in a different system," Johnson said. "Coach Brett let me loose."
Because of his basketball success, Johnson is already starting to become a local celebrity. He says that when he goes to Tower City, kids will stop him all the time to say hello.
He's starting to understand the magnitude of what's going on and knows people are counting on him across Cleveland schools, but that doesn't bother him.
"There's not really pressure," Johnson said. "I want to do it. I'm putting pressure on myself to do it."
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