STORRS — After two years of waiting for his opportunity, Samson Johnson announced his presence with an exclamation point not a minute after he got onto the court in UConn’s 95-52 season-opening win over Northern Arizona.
Johnson, a 6 foot 10 junior from Togo in West Africa via The Patrick School in New Jersey (where he played with former UConn star Adama Sanogo), checked into Monday’s game less than four minutes into the first half and, 35 seconds later, elevated and caught an alley-oop pass over his head from Cam Spencer. It was the first of five dunks on the night for the high-flying Johnson, who finished as one of UConn’s five scorers in double-digits with 11 points, plus five rebounds and three blocks in 18 minutes.
The 11 points tied his season total from last year, when a foot injury took him out of the starting lineup and forced him to miss several weeks. Once he returned the team had already formed with Alex Karaban stepping into his starting role and minutes were nearly impossible to come by. The year before, his freshman season, Johnson joined a frontcourt stacked with Adama Sanogo, Isaiah Whaley, Tyler Polley and Akok Akok, and wasn’t able to carve consistent time on the court.
“That guy, I don’t think he’s as confident as he should be because he’s got just incredible talent and abilities, and when he checks in the game, I want our fans just loving that guy because he could’ve did what a lot of players do right now and just run to something easier,” head coach Dan Hurley said after the game. “He stayed because he loves the program, he loves UConn and he believes in himself.”
We can get used to this…@kdroos_13
pic.twitter.com/GqoIUATRDn
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 6, 2023
Now Johnson has a chance to form a new one-two punch in the frontcourt as the running mate of a potential All-American candidate in 7-2 center Donovan Clingan. The duo showed what sort of damage it could do, similar to last year’s championship-winning Sanogo-Clingan tandem, as it combined for 23 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks in the season debut.
“He’s gonna be a very important factor this year if we want to do what we want to do,” Clingan said. “He’s a special player and he’s got a big role on this team.”
For the team, Johnson’s performance was no surprise. He stood out in secret scrimmages ahead of this year and last, averaging 19 points a game behind closed doors against Virginia and Harvard, according to Hurley. To fans, Monday was the first chance to get an extended look at what this year’s version of Johnson can do.
“I just think he’s in the perfect position,” Hurley said. “I think that center spot as a movement center is a great spot for him. I think unlike Adama and Donovan, where they were tough to play together, I do think that there is a path to Samson and Donovan being able to play together just because of how athletic Samson is in terms of his movement.”
Johnson and Clingan weren’t on the court together on Monday, they actually spent more time together on the bench. Clingan was on a minutes restriction as he continues to work back from an offseason foot strain and Johnson “was mauling people,” to use Hurley’s words, and got into foul trouble early – something that could become an issue down the line.
Dime & Dunk
@hassan_diarra11
@kdroos_13 pic.twitter.com/1Wv84h7hNm
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 7, 2023
When they were off, Hurley went small with Karaban, 6-8, filling in at the center spot.
“That’s something we could potentially do,” Hurley said of going small in the future. “When you have big perimeter like we’ve got for the most part, tall guys with some length, we could play potentially a small-ball lineup like that and cause a lot of problems. Switch everything and have a lot of shooting and skill on the court.”
Last year, with Sanogo playing consistently at an all-conference level for 26.6 minutes a game, Clingan came in and maintained the same level of production, at times even increasing it. Johnson is in a position, as Clingan takes the lead role, to potentially make as much, or more, of an impact as that secondary center.
“Now you also know in the back of your mind that, if Donovan has that type of year where he is a dominant player and he becomes a lottery pick, then you’ve got a guy that is really, really good that would be returning to fill those shoes,” Hurley said.
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