Elijah Johnson (basketball)

Elijah K. Johnson (born July 11, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Maccabi Ashdod of the Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball at the University of Kansas before playing professionally in Poland, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Germany and Israel.

Elijah Johnson
Johnson with the Kansas Jayhawks in January 2012
No. 15 – Maccabi Ashdod
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
Personal information
Born (1990-07-11) July 11, 1990
Gary, Indiana
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolCheyenne (Las Vegas, Nevada)
CollegeKansas (2009–2013)
NBA draft2013 / Undrafted
Playing career2013–present
Career history
2013–2014Rosa Radom
2014–2015Panelefsiniakos
2015–2016Pertevniyal
2016Anadolu Efes
2016Cibona
2017s.Oliver Würzburg
2017Istanbulspor Beylikduzu
2017–2018Hapoel Gilboa Galil
2018–2019Rethymno Cretan Kings
2019–presentMaccabi Ashdod

College career

Johnson committed to Kansas after receiving offers from Cincinnati and Connecticut. 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 in the NCAA Tournament.[1] Johnson averaged 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on the season.[2]

As a senior, Johnson averaged 9.9 points and 4.6 assists per game. Kansas went 31-6.[3] He had a career-high 39 points against Iowa State, 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.[4] In the Sweet Sixteen of the 2013 NCAA Tournament against Michigan, Johnson made a costly turnover with under a minute to go in regulation. In overtime, he was assessed a technical foul and missed the final shot in an 87-85 loss.[5]

Professional career

On August 15, 2013, Johnson signed with the Polish team Anwil Wloclawek for a one-year contract.[3] However, Anwil released him before the start of the season, and he moved to another Polish club Rosa Radom for the 2013–14 season.[6]

On August 26, 2014, Johnson signed with Panelefsiniakos of the Greek Basket League for the 2014–15 season.[7]

In September 2015, he signed with Pertevniyal of the Turkish Basketball Second League.[8] On February 24, 2016, he left Pertevniyal and signed with Anadolu Efes for the rest of the season.[9]

On August 8, 2016, Johnson signed with Cibona of Croatia for the 2016–17 season.[10] On November 27, 2016, he left Cibona and signed with Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.[11] 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 for the rest of the 2016–17 Basketball Bundesliga season.[12] Only eight days later, he parted ways with Würzburg after suffering a shoulder injury.[13][14] He played in only game for club. On February 1, 2017, he signed with Istanbulspor Beylikduzu of the Turkish Basketball First League.[15]

On July 27, 2017, Johnson signed with the Italian LBA club Vanoli Cremona for the 2017–18 LBA season.[16] On October 24, 2017, Johnson parted ways with Cremona before appearing in a game for them to join the Israeli team Hapoel Gilboa Galil, signing a one-month contract as injury cover for D'Angelo Harrison and J'Covan Brown.[17] On May 12, 2018, Johnson returned to Gilboa Galil for the rest of the season.[18] 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.[19] 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 Greek Basket League. 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 Maccabi Ashdod for the 2019–20 season.[20] 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 Hapoel Tel Aviv.[21]

References
  1. Bern, Taylor (March 28, 2012). "Las Vegas' Elijah Johnson takes the big stage for Kansas in the Final Four". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  2. "Elijah Johnson - 2012-13 Men's Basketball". Kansas Jayhawks. University of Kansas. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  3. Bedore, Gary (August 15, 2013). "Johnson signs one-year deal to play with team in Poland". Lawrence Journal-World. University of Kansas. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  4. Norlander, Matt (February 28, 2013). "Death threats sent to Elijah Johnson after Kansas-Iowa State game". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  5. Mellinger, Sam (March 30, 2013). "Tough way to go out for KU's Elijah Johnson". Kansas City Star. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  6. "Rosa Radom adds Johnson to their roster". Eurobasket.com. October 12, 2013. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  7. "Panelefsiniakos signs Elijah Johnson and rookie Aaric Murray". Sportando.com. August 26, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  8. "Elijah Johnson (ex Panelefsiniakos) is a newcomer at Pertevniyal". Eurobasket.com. September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  9. "Anadolu Efes adds Johnson to backcourt". Euroleague.net. February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  10. "Elijah Johnson signs with Cibona Zagreb". Sportando.com. August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  11. "Hapoel Tel Aviv lands Elijah Johnson". Sportando.com. November 29, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  12. "Elijah Johnson kommt als Verstärkung im Backcourt". soliver-wuerzburg.de (in German). January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  13. "Vertrag mit Elijah Johnson wegen Verletzung aufgelöst". soliver-wuerzburg.de (in German). January 12, 2017. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  14. "S.Oliver Wuerzburg, Elijah Johnson part ways". Sportando.com. January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  15. "Elijah Johnson inks with Istanbulspor Beylikduzu". Sportando.com. February 1, 2017. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  16. "Vanoli Cremona inks Elijah Johnson". Sportando.com. July 27, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  17. "אלייז'ה ג'ונסון מצטרף לגלבוע/גליל". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  18. "הפועל גלבוע/גליל: אלייז'ה ג'ונסון חוזר עד לסיום העונה". walla.co.il (in Hebrew). May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  19. "Winner League Quarter Final, Game Number 3: Hapoel J-M Vs Gilboa Galil". basket.co.il. June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  20. "Maccabi Ashdod ink Elijah Johnson". Sportando.basketball. July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  21. "בוקר טוב אליהו: ניצחון ראשון לאשדוד". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
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