In this Boeheim’s Army 2019 Player Series we will feature the members of this year’s TBT (The Basketball Tournament) squad, and what’s happened since we saw them last. Up next: BJ Johnson.
Boeheim’s Army is back for another run in the 2019 TBT (The Basketball Tournament) and has added some much need depth to this year’s roster that was already pretty deep. Among the new additions is former Syracuse Basketball forward BJ Johnson.
Though Johnson is not a name that sticks out as a star when he played for Syracuse basketball, he ended up having a decent career after he transferred to La Salle. Johnson averaged 3.4 points, 2.5 rebounds in two seasons for Syracuse basketball, according to Cuse.com.
However, at La Salle he immediately made an impact, averaging 19.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 assists per game while starting 55 of the 56 games he played in, according to Sports-Reference.com.
After his college days, Johnson played last year in the G-League (the NBA’s developmental league) for the Lakeland Magic averaging 15.4 points and 5.2 rebounds and shooting 44.2% from three and 84% from the foul line, according to Syracuse.com. He would also be called up near the end of the year and play limited minutes for both the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings.
Even coming out of high school, Johnson looked the part of a decent wing who could hit jump shots from the wing, but also had the length to alter shots and rebound on defense. Though he rarely got to show it at Syracuse, he had the talent and athleticism to be really good if given the chance, which was evident when he exploded on the stat sheet at La Salle.
Though he hasn’t really made his mark on the NBA or overseas yet, Johnson as a chance to show what he’s made of by playing for Boeheim’s Army this summer. He can also show Syracuse fans what Jim Boeheim hardly let out the bag: a player brimming with confidence who can and wants to be greater than what he’s shown before.
It’s unclear how Boeheim’s Army coach Ryan Blackwell will use Johnson this summer since Hakim Warrick, Arinze Onuaku, Darryl Watkins, and possibly Chris McCullough all are likely to play ahead of him at the forward and wing positions. However, we can expect Johnson to play a lot with the second unit as a defender and as an outside threat from three and mid-range.
As a 6-foot-7 athlete who can dribble and drive well, Johnson can check in as a guard which gives him a huge height advantage against most guards in this tournament. Though he typically plays forward, playing at the shooting guard position may be the best chance he has to get minutes.
His ability to hit shots from three and or fake and drive to the rim gives the team a versatile threat on the team’s second unit whether that’s in the half-court set or in the fast break. Need proof? Check out his 2019 Summer League highlights below:
Either way, Johnson provides Boeheim’s Army depth both at guard as well as forward. Considering McCullough is playing overseas in the Philippine Basketball Associations playoffs and Brandon Triche has a bone bruise near his knee and neither are guaranteed to play the first weekend, according to Syracuse.com, that makes Johnson that much more of an asset.
Here’s hoping he can have a big performance in The Basketball Tournament to help his professional prospects as well as improve his Syracuse basketball legacy that didn’t exactly end on a great note.