Aaron Westley Johnson (born October 27, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for

Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, also known as Tasomix Rosiek Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski. They play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since its promotio ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for UAB. As a senior in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he led

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

in assists with 7.70 per game. In addition, he was named

Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always ...

Early life

Johnson was born and raised in the Englewood area of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He is the fourth-born child of 12. Despite a rough childhood, Johnson became the first in his family to attend college and graduate.

High school career

Johnson played high school basketball at Hubbard High School where he was a four-year starter. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

he averaged 21 points and nine assists per game, although the team finished with an 11–14 record. The following year, however, Johnson led Hubbard to a 21–9 record while winning the regional championship. He achieved all-city honors after averaging 14 points and nine assists per game. Johnson was also rated as one of the top 25 players in the state of Illinois according to Rivals.com.

College career

Johnson played college ball for

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

. During the 2009–10 season he was named to the third team all

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

and first team all defense. Johnson's best season was his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year, where he averaged 11.8 points and an NCAA-leading 7.7 assists per game. He led UAB to a 22–9 overall record (12–4 conference) as they won their first outright C-USA regular season title. Johnson also became the first player in UAB history to earn Conference USA Player of the Year honors and an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honorable mention. He also was named to the first team all-conference, first team all-defense, and District 11 Second Team. Johnson's best game came in a triple overtime win against the conference favorite

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the University of Texas Syste ...

. He ended the game with 26 points on 9–17 shooting, 14 assists, seven rebounds and 1 steal in 54 minutes of playing time. He also tallied a career best 39 points, four assists and four rebounds in a conference playoff loss to East Carolina. During his last game as a college player, Johnson fractured his

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

. He finished his career at UAB as its all-time leader in assists for a career (664), single season (239), double-figures in a game (10), single season average (7.70) and single game (14). Johnson also finished second in Conference USA history in career assists.

College statistics

Professional career

Following the close of his collegiate career, Johnson signed with Ostuni Basket of Italy's second division (

Legadue Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with ...

). In his first professional year Johnson averaged 15.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, 4.5 assist, 3.7 turnovers, and 1.5 steals while shooting 55% from 2 point field goal range and 33% from 3 along the way to being named to the Legadue SuisseGas All-Star Game. Johnson increased his scoring average in the playoffs to 22.3, which was good for 2nd in the league. On July 19, 2012, Johnson signed with Vanoli Cremona in Italy's A-1 league. In November 2013, he was acquired by the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

. On January 23, 2014, he was waived by the Jam. For the 2014–15 season Johnson signed with the Finnish team Nilan Bisons Loimaa. On September 15, 2015, Johnson signed with Romanian team

SCM CSU Craiova SCM Universitatea Craiova is a Romanian professional basketball club based in Craiova. The club competes in Liga Națională, the top tier of Romanian basketball. History Over the last few years, the team has also been named SCM CSS Craiova. ...

. On July 17, 2016, Johnson signed with Polish team

Professional statistics

References

External links

Italian League profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Aaron 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Finland American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Latvia American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Romania American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American men's basketball players Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Chicago BK Ventspils players Bisons Loimaa players Point guards Reyer Venezia players SCM U Craiova (basketball) players Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski players UAB Blazers men's basketball players Vanoli Cremona players