Samson Roosevelt Faical Kuessi Johnson (born July 28, 2002) is a Togolese
college basketball player for the
UConn Huskies of the
Big East Conference.
He was considered as the top incoming basketball recruit in UConn’s 2021 class.
[UConn commit Samson Johnson has rocketed up national recruiting rankings - and here's why](_blank)
David Borges ( New Haven Register), 2 May 2021. Accessed 19 August 2021.
High school career
At
The Patrick School, he played under coach Chris Chavannes who praised Johnson’s work ethic. He led his team to a 14–1 overall record. Johnson showed improvement as a junior as a role player on a team led by
Adama Sanogo
Adama Sanogo (born 12 February 2002) is a Malian professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League. In 2023 he won the national ...
, who later completed an exceptional freshman season on the
2020–21 UConn Huskies men's basketball team
The 2020–21 UConn Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies are led by third-year head coach Dan Hurley in their first season of the Big East C ...
. In October 2020, at a Slam16 all-star game at Gauchos Gym in
The Bronx, Johnson wound up with 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocks to notch Co-Most Valuable Players honors for the game. He worked out with the Northeast Basketball Club, a program in northern
New Jersey that often featured some of the state’s top committed prospects and current collegiate players.
Recruiting
In November 2020, Johnson signed his national letter of intent to play for
UConn Huskies men's basketball program.
A week after his recruitment, Johnson was rated as No. 39 in the nation (according to
ESPN — ahead of both fellow UConn commits Rahsool Diggins and
Jordan Hawkins, No.’s 56 and 57, respectively).
Johnson moved up in the
247Sports
247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount.
The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...
recruiting site’s composite rankings, as well, from No. 76 back in November to No. 63.
Player profile
Johnson’s former coach Chavannes reported, “you see a guy that can just dominate a game on both ends of the floor, in a matter of seconds. He can shoot the 3 in transition, follow-up dunks, clean up the boards, block shots. He can literally just dominate a game.”
Jay David, Johnson’s coach at the youth basketball program NY Jayhawks AAU stated “..he can guard multiple positions.” Yet, in May 2021, David stressed that Johnson needed to add more strength to compete better in the very physical
Big East Conference.
References
External links
UConn Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Samson
2002 births
Living people
21st-century Togolese people
Centers (basketball)
The Patrick School alumni
Power forwards
Sportspeople from Lomé
Togolese expatriates in the United States
Togolese men's basketball players
UConn Huskies men's basketball players