Jasper Johnson (born March 25, 2006) is an American

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 who plays for team RWE of Overtime Elite.

Early life and high school

Johnson grew up in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

and initially attended Woodford County High School. He averaged 20.1 points per game as a sophomore. Johnson transferred to Link Academy in

Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, Missouri, Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County, Missouri, Stone County. Branson is in the Ozarks, Ozark Mountain ...

before the start of his junior year. After his junior year, Johnson opted to leave Link Academy to join the Overtime Elite league as a non-professional player for team RWE in order to preserve his collegiate eligibility. Johnson is a consensus top-25 recruit in the 2025 class, according to major recruiting services. He committed to play

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 ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

over offers from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, and

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

National team career

Johnson played for the United States under-18 basketball team at the

2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup The 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup was the 13th edition of the FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup, a biennial international under-18 basketball tournament. The tournament was held from 3 to 9 June 2024, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also served as a qualifyin ...

. He averaged 10.0 points and 2.7 assists per game as the United States won the gold medal.

Personal life

Johnson's father,

Dennis Johnson Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007), nicknamed "DJ", was an American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns, and Boston Celtics. He was a c ...

, played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Kentucky and in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. His uncle Derrick also played football at Kentucky. Johnson's grandfather, Alvis Johnson, played football at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

and was the head football and track coach at Harrodsburg High School before serving as an assistant athletic director at Kentucky.

References

External links

Overtime Elite profileUSA Basketball profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jasper 2006 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Lexington, Kentucky Point guards Shooting guards