Ryggs Johnston picks ASU

LIBBY — Libby’s Ryggs Johnston is no longer one of the top uncommitted prep golfers in the country, and it’s got a little something to do with the big, orange ball he spins in the winter.

Johnston, the defending Class B state golf champion and a sophomore at Libby High School, has verbally committed to Arizona State University and their new head coach, Matt Thurmond.

But the choice was also motivated by Thurmond’s new assistant, Van Williams, who left his job as an assistant with the defending national champions, Oregon, to join the Sun Devils in August. Williams is a former college basketball coach and had been recruiting the Libby phenom, including checking out Johnston, an all-conference basketball player, and the Loggers on the court.

“I had a pretty good relationship with (Williams) and he’s down there now as an assistant coach,” Johnston said. “Van had come and watched basketball games before and we’d talked quite a bit.”

The new coaching duo in the desert has ramped up expectations at Arizona State, a program that was already among the strongest in the country and has produced alums Phil Mickelson, Billy Mayfair and Paul Casey, among others. The Sun Devils have won two team national championships, most recently in 1996.

“[Thurmond] coached at Washington previously for quite a few years (15) and had a really good program there,” Johnston said. “It just wasn’t quite in the area to be a great program.

“I like both coaches a lot and Arizona State’s always been, since I was in about sixth grade, the school that I wanted to go to,” he continued. “My grandparents have a condo down there, about 20-30 minutes away from campus, so I’m pretty familiar with the area and it’s one of the best areas for golf in the country.”

Johnston has been a star on the links for years and qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championships in the summer of 2015, before he’d even enrolled in high school. In his first prep season, Johnston not only won the state title, he obliterated state records in the process, shooting at 8-under-par 63 in the second round and knocking five strokes off the previous state record with a two-day total of 131.

Johnston called the recruiting process “stressful” but appreciated the positives that came with the extra attention lavished upon him.

“For the most part I enjoyed having all of the college coaches follow me,” Johnston said. “It was pretty cool. Makes you feel pretty important, especially when you’re playing good.”

Johnston kept exceptionally busy this past summer, playing in tournaments as far away as Guadalajara, Mexico, as part of Montana’s Junior America’s Cup team.

“It was kind of up and down,” Johnston said of his summer. “I played a lot of tournaments, got in some rough stretches, but for the most part the summer was good.”

The prep golf season is still several months away but Johnston’s sophomore basketball season begins Nov. 17.