Alex Johnson (basketball)

Alex Johnson

Johnson at NC State
No. 17 Grand Rapids Drive
Position Guard
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1988-01-18) January 18, 1988
Toronto, Ontario
Nationality Canadian
Listed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Vaughan Road Academy
(Toronto, Ontario)
College
NBA draft 2012 / Undrafted
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2013 Timba Timișoara
20132014 Mississauga Power
2014 Hamilton Huskies
20142015 Saint John Mill Rats
20152016 Halifax Hurricanes
2016 Windsor Express
2016–present Grand Rapids Drive
Career highlights and awards

Alex "Superman" Johnson (born January 18, 1988) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League. He played college basketball at Cal State Bakersfield and then NC State. Johnson attended high school at Vaughan Road Academy in Toronto, Ontario. As a professional, he was named an NBL Canada All-Star with the Mississauga Power. Johnson was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2013 NBL Canada draft by the Ottawa SkyHawks.

High school career

Johnson attended Vaughan Road Academy in Toronto, Ontario, where he was considered one of the top perimeter players of his class in Canada. As a senior at Vaughan, he averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists. He was also an honor roll student and an Academic All-Star.[1]

Collegiate career

Johnson started out his college basketball career with the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, while attending the California State University at Bakersfield. He appeared in 26 games as a freshman and was named a starter in 17 of them. Despite having an injury interfere with his playing time towards the end of the season, Johnson had the 17th-best three-point field goal percentage in school history, shooting .416 from beyond the arc. He finished his freshman year averaging 8.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 three-pointers per game.[2] Johnson transferred to North Carolina State to compete in his senior season.[3]

Professional career

Johnson was the first Canadian to ever be drafted first overall in the National Basketball League of Canada draft.[4] Johnson was acquired from the now inactive Ottawa Skyhawks for Bol Kong on November 19, 2014.[5] In his first season playing professionally in Canada, Johnson was nominated to become an NBL Canada All-Star along with teammate, Morgan Lewis. [6] After leading the Mississauga Power franchise to its first playoff appearance in their inaugural season, Johnson returned for a second year to continue the momentum. In the 2014–15 season, Johnson had additional help with the re-signing of NBL Canada All-Star Morgan Lewis and re-acquirement of Tut Ruach.[7][8] On December 29, 2014, he signed with the Saint John Mill Rats.[9] On December 16, 2015, Johnson signed with the newly formed Halifax Hurricanes in the NBL Canada.[10][11] Johnson signed with the Windsor Express a few days after the Hurricanes released him.[12]

Personal life

On October 2, 2014, the Mississauga Power announced their partnership with BioSteel Sports Supplements Inc. and Peak Sports Canada. Johnson was selected to be the featured player to display the new Peak Sports Canada jersey and the BioSteel Sports Supplements product.[13] That summer, BioSteel also became the exclusive sports drink provider for Canada Basketball.[14] On April 16, 2014, the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) unveiled their new commercial to showcase their new marketing campaign, We The North. Johnson was allowed to make a cameo appearance.[15] Johnson also runs his own basketball clinic called the Alex "Superman" Johnson Skills Academy.[16][17] He is currently married to former Johnson C. Smith University college basketball player Brey Dorsett. Inspired by the movie Love & Basketball, he proposed to Dorsett after acting as if he had gotten injured while playing basketball. The video received over 3 million views and was commented on by multiple actors from the movie.[18][19]

References

  1. "Alex Johnson 2011 Bio". GoRunners.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  2. "ALEX JOHNSON". TycoonSportsInc.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  3. "Alex Johnson bio". GoPack.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  4. "Alex Johnson Drafted No. 1 In Canada Pro Draft - NC State University Official Athletic Site". Gopack.com. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  5. Baines, Tim (2013-11-19). "Kong back with Ottawa SkyHawks | basketball | Basketball | Sports". Ottawasun.com. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  6. "NBL CANADA ANNOUNCES 2013-2014 AWARD WINNERS". Rainmenbasketball.ca. 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  7. "Mississauga Power Building Blocks: New Team, New Culture". Northpolehoops.com. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  8. "Mississauga Power Building Blocks: New Team, New Culture". Northpolehoops.com. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  9. McCarthy, Tiffany (December 29, 2014). "Mill Rats Acquire Canadian All Star Superman Johnson". NBL Canada. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  10. "Alex Johnson is a newcomer at Halifax Hurricanes". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  11. Mosher, Monty (January 4, 2016). "Hurricanes make change, alter Canadian content". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  12. Mosher, Monty (January 7, 2016). "Another win for Hurricanes". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  13. "Power Partner with Two Canadian Companies". Powerbasketball.ca. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  14. "BioSteel Sports Supplements Secures Partnership With Canada Basketball". Forbes.com. 2014-07-22. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  15. "New NBA Toronto Raptors Commercial features Mississauga Power, Alex "Superman" Johnson!". Powerbasketball.ca. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  16. "Alex "Superman" Johnson's Point Guard Skills Academy Saturday July 5th & Sunday July 6th, 2014 | On Point". Onpointbasketball.com. 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  17. Ball, Can (2014-07-05). "Three Point Play – Alex Johnson". Canballreport.com. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  18. Kirpalani, Sanjay. "The Story Behind the Real-Life 'Love & Basketball' Proposal 3 Million People Saw". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  19. Heigl, Alex. "Basketball Player's Mid-Game Proposal Goes Viral (VIDEO)". People. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.