Nebraska's Bill Busch makes offer to top 2023 Kansas QB Avery Johnson

Maize (Kan.) quarterback Avery Johnson is located just four hours away from Lincoln and is regarded as one of the top athletes in the region.

On Friday, Nebraska's new special teams coordinator Bill Busch stopped by Maize and let Eagle's head coach Gary Guzman know the Huskers were officially offering the three-sport standout.

It was the first contact NU has had with anyone from Maize regarding Johnson, who now holds 19 confirmed offers and is a standout in three different sports.

“He was able to at least see Avery and get a look at him,” Guzman told HuskerOnline. “He obviously could not talk to him, but he and I talked a lot. Coach Busch and I talked a lot. He was the one that told me to let Avery know they were going to offer him.

“I think Coach Busch was kind of surprised that no one had contacted him with us being four hours away. He hadn’t heard anything from Nebraska until now. Coach Busch was familiar with our area, and he was surprised that nobody had contacted him.”

The 6-foot-3, 170 pound Guzman was also being checked out by Tennesee on Friday.

He led Maize to a Kansas Class 5A runner-up finish in football this past season and scored 17 points in the Class 5A state championship basketball game leading them to a title. He's also a standout outfielder for the Eagles baseball team.

“He is pretty amazing,” Guzman said of Johnson, who's led Maize to a 19-4 record over the last two seasons. “If you watch him play basketball, you would think he’s a basketball player. If you watch him play baseball, you would think he’s a baseball player. Last year our basketball team won state, I believe that was the first time ever our school won a state championship in basketball, and he scored 17 points in that game.

"Right now we just beat the No. 1 team in 5A and he was the one responsible for shutting down their best player. We are probably the best team in 5A right now and have a good shot to repeat as state champions. Then this year our football team went to the state finals for the first time in school history, and obviously, he had a lot to do with that too. He’s one of those guys that’s going to take the programs to another level.”

There haven't been very many athletes like Johnson to come out of the Wichita area in a long time.

“He will have a monster dunk and then he’ll shoot a three-pointer,” Guzman said. “He shoots the ball well and he’ll take it to the hole. If only one guy is guarding him, he’s going to win that battle.

“He’s an outfielder and hits the ball really well in baseball. In baseball, if you can hit, you are considered a pretty good player, and he can hit.”

Guzman said that both Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and head coach Scott Frost could also be making their way down to Maize in the month of January to check in on Johnson.

Attending one of the Huskers two January Junior Days is something to keep on the radar as well.

“I think they are going to want him to,” Guzman said of getting Johnson up to one of NU’s two January junior days. “They are going to obviously have to set that up with him, but I’m sure they’d love to have him.”