Elijah K. Johnson (born July 11, 1990) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Maccabi Ashdod Maccabi Ashdod B.C. () is a professional basketball team based in the port city of Ashdod, Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli National League. History The team was founded in 1961 by "Maccabi Ashdod Sports Association", with the ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

. He played college basketball at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

before playing professionally in Poland, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Germany and Israel.

College career

Johnson committed to Kansas after receiving offers from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He was a bench player his first two years and played sparingly. As a junior, he was moved into the starting lineup and contributed to the national runner-up team. He had five points, two steals, and a rebound in the final 3:12 in a win against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

in the NCAA Tournament. Johnson averaged 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on the season. As a senior, Johnson averaged 9.9 points and 4.6 assists per game. Kansas went 31–6. He had a career-high 39 points against

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

, including an emphatic dunk in the closing seconds to lift the Jayhawks to a 108–96 overtime win. After the game, Johnson received death threats. In the Sweet Sixteen of the 2013 NCAA Tournament against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, Johnson made a costly turnover with under a minute to go in regulation. In overtime, he was assessed a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

and missed the final shot in an 87–85 loss.

Professional career

On August 15, 2013, Johnson signed with the Polish team Anwil Wloclawek for a one-year contract. However, Anwil released him before the start of the season, and he moved to another Polish club Rosa Radom for the 2013–14 season. On August 26, 2014, Johnson signed with Panelefsiniakos of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

for the 2014–15 season. In September 2015, he signed with Pertevniyal of the

Turkish Basketball Second League The Turkish Basketball Second League, also called TB2L, is Turkish basketball league system, the third-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously called the Turkish Basketball Third League (TB3L). For ...

. On February 24, 2016, he left Pertevniyal and signed with

Anadolu Efes Anadolu Efes Spor Kulübü, commonly referred to as Anadolu Efes or simply Efes, is a Turkish professional basketball team based in Istanbul. Founded in 1976, the club was formerly known as Efes Pilsen until 2011. Efes is the 2021–22 EuroLeagu ...

for the rest of the season. On August 8, 2016, Johnson signed with Cibona of Croatia for the 2016–17 season. On November 27, 2016, he left Cibona and signed with Israeli club

Hapoel Tel Aviv Hapoel Tel Aviv () is a sports club in Israel, founded in the 1920s, and part of the Hapoel association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as football, basketball, w ...

. However, one month later, he was released by Hapoel before appearing in a game for them. On January 4, 2017, he signed with German club

s.Oliver Würzburg s.Oliver, legally ''s.Oliver Bernd Freier GmbH & Co. KG'', is a German fashion company headquartered in Rottendorf that sells apparel, shoes, accessories, jewellery, fragrances and eyewear worldwide. History The company was founded in 1969 ...

for the rest of the

2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga The 2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga was the 51st season of the Basketball Bundesliga, the top-tier level of professional club basketball in Germany. The season started on 23 September 2016 and ended on 11 June 2017. The name of the league was cha ...

season. Only eight days later, he parted ways with Würzburg after suffering a shoulder injury. He played in only game for club. On February 1, 2017, he signed with Istanbulspor Beylikduzu of the

Turkish Basketball First League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

. On July 27, 2017, Johnson signed with the Italian LBA club

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

for the 2017–18 LBA season. On October 24, 2017, Johnson parted ways with Cremona before appearing in a game for them to join the Israeli team

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil () is a professional basketball club that is based in north-east Israel. The club plays its home game in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball) in a 2,250-seat arena in Gan Ner. History T ...

, signing a one-month contract as injury cover for D'Angelo Harrison and J'Covan Brown. On May 12, 2018, Johnson returned to Gilboa Galil for the rest of the season. On June 3, 2018, Johnson recorded a season-high 26 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field, along with 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists in a 105–107 playoff loss to Hapoel Jerusalem. Johnson helped Gilboa Galil to reach the 2018 Israeli League Playoffs, where they eventually were eliminated by Hapoel Jerusalem. On October 29, 2018, Johnson signed with the Rethymno Cretan Kings of the

. In 15 games played for Rethymno, he averaged 11.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game. On July 21, 2019, Johnson returned to Israel for a second stint, signing with

for the 2019–20 season. On October 21, 2019, Johnson recorded 23 points in his second game with Ashdod, while shooting 7-of-11 from the three-point range, along with five rebounds, six assists and three steals in an 83–76 win over

References

External links

ESPN profile

RealGM.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Elijah 1990 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Croatia American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Anadolu Efes S.K. players Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players Hapoel Gilboa Galil players KK Cibona players Maccabi Ashdod B.C. players Panelefsiniakos B.C. players Point guards Rosa Radom players Würzburg Baskets players Shooting guards Basketball players from Gary, Indiana Basketball players from Las Vegas 21st-century American sportsmen