Clinton "Trey" Johnson III (born August 30, 1984) is an American-Qatari former 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 and coach. 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 ...

with the

Alcorn State Braves The Alcorn State Braves and Lady Braves represent Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi in intercollegiate athletics. They field 15 teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, tennis, and track and field; women's- ...

and the Jackson State Tigers in the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC). During his senior year, he won the SWAC Player of the Year award. He has spent much of his professional career with the Bakersfield Jam in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

(NBA D-League), a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

basketball organization owned and run by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). During his time in the D-League, he received a call-up to the NBA and has played for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. He has also spent several short stints overseas in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and Italy. He has represented

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

in international competition.

Early life

Trey Johnson was born and grew up in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

. His father, Clinton Jr., and his older brother, Will, played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a Public university, public Historically Black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and ...

. He followed his father's footsteps and started playing baseball since he was young. He then started to play basketball during his teenage years. However, he only played basketball intermittently through middle school and high school. He attended Murrah High School and played both basketball and baseball there. He starred as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

during high school and after graduating, he was selected in the 30th round of the

2002 Major League Baseball draft The 2002 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis (author), Michael Lewis' 2003 book ''Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first r ...

by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

. However, he opted to attend college and play

collegiate sports College sports or college athletics encompasses amateur sports played by non-professional, collegiate and university-level student athletes in competitive sports and games. College sports have led to many college rivalries. College sports trace ...

before turning pro.

College career

Johnson attended

Northeast Mississippi Community College Northeast Mississippi Community College (NEMCC) is a public community college in Booneville, Mississippi. History The college was founded in 1948 as Northeast Mississippi Junior College'','' and became known primarily as an agricultural school a ...

Booneville, Mississippi Booneville is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi and is the county seat of Prentiss County, Mississippi, Prentiss County. It is located in the hilly North Mississippi region, and ecologically is part of the Southeastern Plains region. The c ...

. He played both baseball and basketball there for one season. As a basketball player, he averaged 19.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game. After a year, he enrolled at

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. ...

and continued to play both sports there. However, at his first appearance as a pitcher for Alcorn State, he suffered a

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

injury on his elbow that required a

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

. He needed one year to fully recover from the injury and therefore, he became a full-time basketball player. He averaged 11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 41.5% from three-point range. However, he was unsatisfied with the basketball program there and later transferred to Jackson State University for his junior season. Due to the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) transfer rules, Johnson sat out the 2004–05 season. The following season, he led the Jackson State Tigers to the

(SWAC) Semifinal but the Tigers was defeated by the eventual champion, Southern, 66–59. He averaged 23.5 points on 45.5 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 32 games. With 23.5 points per game, he became the 10th leading scorer in the country and second in the SWAC. He scored a season-high 40 points during a game against Texas Southern. After his junior season, he declared himself eligible for the

2006 NBA draft The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. c ...

but later withdrew his name and decided to return to Jackson State for his senior year. In his senior year, Johnson led the Tigers to the SWAC Final. He scored a game-high 33 points in the final as Jackson State defeated Mississippi Valley State 81–71. Jackson State also earned a spot in the NCAA tournament for the first time in seven years. However, their NCAA trip was cut short when the Tigers was beaten 112–69 by the eventual champion,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Nevertheless, Johnson became one of the season's best performers by averaging 27.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 35 games. He ranked second in scoring, after Reggie Williams who averaged 28.1 points per game. He was also named as the SWAC Player of the Year. He scored a career-high 49 points during a game against

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 finished his college career with 1,698 points in only two seasons with Jackson State and became the school's eighth-all-time-leading scorer.

Professional career

2007–08 season

Johnson was automatically eligible for the

2007 NBA draft The 2007 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2007, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was broadcast on television in 115 countries. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amate ...

after finishing his four-year college eligibility. However, he went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He then played for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in the 2007 Orlando Summer League. On October 1, 2007, he was signed by the

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

for their training camp and preseason roster. He played in five games, averaging 4.0 points and 1.8 assists in 13.8 minutes per game. Before the season started, Johnson was waived by the Hornets and became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Johnson started his professional career in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

with KK Hemofarm. He later returned to the U.S. to sign with the Bakersfield Jam of the

(D-League) on January 25, 2008. He played 24 games (1 as a starter) with the Jam and averaged 11.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 27.2 minutes per game.

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Johnson played for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

in the 2008

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

. He played in five games, averaging 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game. On September 26, 2008, he was signed by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

for their training camp and pre-season roster. However, he did not appear in any preseason game for the Suns and was waived on October 13. He returned to the Bakersfield Jam for the 2008–09 season. On February 3, 2009, after playing 25 games while averaging 20.1 points with the Jam, Johnson was signed by the

on a 10-day contract. On the same day, he was selected to the D-League All-Star Game roster. In the game, he scored a team-high 15 points as his team, the Red Team, defeated the Blue Team 113–103. After the All-Star break, he rejoined the Cavaliers on second 10-day contract. He played four games with the Cavaliers, scoring four points from four free throw attempts. He only played a total of 14 minutes in those four games while failed to make a field goal. After his second 10-day contract expired, he returned to the D-League with the Jam. He ended the season with the Jam, playing 39 games, all of them as a starter, and averaging 20.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 40.1 minutes per game. He was also named to the All NBA D-League Second Team.

2009–10 season

During the 2009 offseason, Johnson participated in both the Orlando Summer League and the NBA Summer League. He played for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the 2009 Orlando Summer League. He played in all five games, averaging 9.6 points in 28.3 minutes per game. He later took part in the 2009 NBA Summer League as part of the NBA D-League Select Team. He was reportedly rejected an offer to play for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

Summer League roster and opted to play with the D-League Select Team which was coached by Scott Roth, his coach at Bakersfield Jam. He appeared in the first two games before missing the last three games due to injury. He averaged 16.0 points on 54.5 percent shooting in 24.5 minutes per game. Johnson then signed with French team

BCM Gravelines Basket Club Maritime Gravelines-Dunkerque, commonly referred to as BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, is a French professional basketball club based in Gravelines. They currently play in the Pro A, the highest professional league in France. The team forme ...

in August 2009. He left Gravelines in February 2010 after playing in 17 games while averaging 8.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game. After leaving France, he was re-signed by the Bakersfield Jam on March 2, 2010. He averaged 21.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 13 games with the Jam. On April, after the D-League season ended, Johnson was signed by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

team

Pallacanestro Biella Pallacanestro Biella, known as Angelico Biella for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Biella, Piedmont. It plays in the second division Serie A2 Basket, Serie A2 as of the 2015–16 season. For past club spons ...

for the rest of the season. He played four games in Italy and averaged 11.5 points per game.

2010–11 season

In July 2010, Johnson played for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

in the 2010 NBA Summer League. He played in all five games, averaging 6.6 points in 25.6 minutes per game. Despite playing for the Clippers in the offseason, Johnson was signed by the Clippers' crosstown rival, the

, for their training camp and preseason games. After playing five games and averaging 2.8 points and 1.2 assists in 8.8 minutes per game, he was waived before the season started. He then returned to the Bakersfield Jam for the 2010–11 season. On January 26, 2011, after playing 26 games while averaging 25.8 points, Johnson signed a 10-day contract with the

. After playing five games in 10 days, he earned a second 10-day contract. In February 2011, he received his second selection to the D-League All-Star Game. However, he did not participate because he was called up to the NBA and was not on a D-League roster on the day of the All-Star Game. After the All-Star Break, his second 10-day contract expired and Johnson returned to the D-League with the Jam. He ended the season with a 25.5 points per game average, becoming the league's scoring leader in the 2010–11 season. He scored in double figures in 38 games out of 39 games played for the Jam. He also scored a season-high 48 points in a game against Erie BayHawks on March 18, 2011. He was also named to the All-NBA D-League First Team. On April 13, 2011, Johnson signed with the Lakers for the remainder of the season. On that day, he played 13 minutes and scored 6 points in the Lakers' final regular season game. He also played three games in the playoffs.

2011–12 season

On August 3, 2011, Johnson signed a one-year deal with Italian club Bancatercas Teramo. However, due to an injury, he was released three months later without playing a single minute. After the

2011 NBA lockout The 2011 NBA lockout was the fourth and most recent lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Team owners began the work stoppage upon expiration of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The 161-day lockout ...

ended, he signed with the

on December 9, 2011. On January 27, 2012, Johnson was waived by the Hornets after playing in 11 games and averaging 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 5.5 minutes per game. On March 15, 2012, he was re-acquired by the Bakersfield Jam.

2012–13 season

On November 6, 2012, Johnson signed with his former team Pallacanestro Biella of Italy. He left the club in April 2014.

2013–14 season

In January 2014, he signed with Marinos de Anzoátegui of Venezuela. On March 3, 2014, he signed with Maccabi Rishon LeZion of Israel for the remainder of the season.

2014–15 season

On September 25, 2014, Johnson signed with the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. However, he was later waived by the Kings on October 25, 2014. On December 5, 2014, he signed with

Hitachi SunRockers Sun Rockers Shibuya is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tokyo and acquired by Sega Sammy. Until 2000, the team was known as Hitachi Honsha Rising Sun. The team currently plays in the B.League. Current roster N ...

of the Japanese National Basketball League.

International competition

Johnson has played for the

Qatar national basketball team The Qatar national basketball team represents Qatar in international basketball competitions. It is administered by the Qatar Basketball Federation. () The team won two bronze medals at the Asian Basketball Championship and belongs to the maj ...

Television

Johnson was followed by a film crew throughout the 2011 NBA D-League Showcase, and was the subject of a documentary.

Career statistics

College

, - , align="left", 2003–04 , align="left",

Alcorn State Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. T ...

, 29 , , , , 28.8 , , .414 , , .415 , , .781 , , 2.4 , , 2.7 , , .5 , , .1 , , 11.0 , - , align="left", 2005–06 , align="left", Jackson State , 32 , , 29 , , 34.8 , , .455 , , .441 , , .750 , , 4.8 , , 2.3 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 23.5 , - , align="left", 2006–07 , align="left", Jackson State , 35 , , 35 , , 37.8 , , .414 , , .333 , , .743 , , 4.5 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .1 , , 27.1 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 96 , , , , 36.4 , , .429 , , .382 , , .751 , , 4.0 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .1 , , 21.0

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left", , align="left",

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left", , align="left",

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .333 , , .333 , , .875 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , .1 , , 4.0 , - , align="left", , align="left", L.A. Lakers , 1 , , 0 , , 13.0 , , .667 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , align="left", , align="left",

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .571 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.9 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 23 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .385 , , .333 , , .947 , , .9 , , .7 , , .1 , , .0 , , 2.6

Playoffs

, - , align="left",

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, align="left", L.A. Lakers , 3 , , 0 , , 3.9 , , .200 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0

D-League

Regular season

, - , align="left", 2007–08 , align="left",

Bakersfield 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 ...

, 24 , , 1 , , 26.0 , , .457 , , .378 , , .792 , , 3.3 , , 4.0 , , .6 , , .0 , , 11.8 , - , align="left", 2008–09 , align="left",

, 39 , , 39 , , 40.1 , , .464 , , .409 , , .795 , , 3.8 , , 4.5 , , .7 , , .0 , , 20.7 , - , align="left", 2009–10 , align="left",

, 13 , , 13 , , 39.7 , , .469 , , .167 , , .867 , , 3.4 , , 7.1 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 21.3 , - , align="left", 2010–11 , align="left",

, 39 , , 39 , , 36.0 , , .499 , , .323 , , .815 , , 4.2 , , 4.5 , , .9 , , .1 , , 25.5 , - , align="left", 2011–12 , align="left",

, 11 , , 0 , , 27.7 , , .466 , , .000 , , .861 , , 3.3 , , 5.7 , , .5 , , .0 , , 12.8 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 126 , , 92 , , 35.0 , , .477 , , .351 , , .815 , , 3.8 , , 4.8 , , .8 , , .1 , , 19.9

Playoffs

, - , align="left", 2009 , align="left",

, 1 , , , , 45.0 , , .450 , , .000 , , .833 , , 6.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 23.0 , - , align="left", 2011 , align="left",

, 1 , , , , 36.0 , , .385 , , .167 , , .889 , , 6.0 , , 3.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 29.0 , - , align="left", 2012 , align="left",

, 4 , , , , 26.8 , , .327 , , .667 , , .774 , , 3.0 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 14.5 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 6 , , , , 31.3 , , .368 , , .300 , , .804 , , 4.0 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .0 , , 18.3

References

External links