University of Connecticut Athletics
Johnson's Performance No Surprise To His Teammates
12/31/2023 6:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By PHIL CHARDIS
Special to uconnhuskies.com
HARTFORD, Conn. – As far as the UConn men's basketball team is concerned, the best aspect of Samson Johnson's 16-point, 4-rebound, 1-steal, 1-block performance in the Huskies' 69-65 win on Dec. 23 over St. John's is that none of them were surprised by it.
Happy for Sam? Absolutely. Proud of Sam? Undoubtedly. But surprised by Sam? Not at all.
And, as the No. 5 Huskies move forward without the services of injured starting center Donovan Clingan for the next few weeks, the Huskies are expecting Johnson's impressive numbers against St. John's to become the norm.
"I didn't think anything that he did, or was involved in, was (unusual for Sam).." UConn Coach Dan Hurley said. "He might have thrown in a little12-footer at (end of) the shot clock, that might be the only thing that might not be sustainable, but every other way ... We're getting tremendous production from that position. We use the center a lot. But I just think Samson's game is going to take off and when the big fella comes back, I think we'll be stronger than we've been all year at that position."
Johnson wasn't intimidated that in his first start of the season, he was pitted against St. John's all-league center Joel Soriano. He just followed the game plan. It didn't hurt that he started the game with a putback dunk that sent the sold-out crowd at the XL Center into a frenzy. Â Â
"He's bigger than I am, so I had to use my speed and quickness," Johnson said. "I just wanted to come into the game and make all the right plays, all the tough plays, and to start like that with a putback dunk was amazing. It got the crowd going, got everything going."
"I don't think I've ever been prouder of a guy stepping in as such a critical piece," Hurley added. "If he didn't play like that, we had no chance because he played against one of the best big men in the country and he won the match-up."
Samson's teammates were confident that the 6-10 junior was ready for the added responsibility.
"Samson is a different player than Donovan, so we wanted him to pick and roll and get him to the rim," grad student guard Tristen Newton said. "He's a good offensive rebounder, so we needed him to do that. There wasn't really back to the basket (plays), but we utilized his strengths – his speed and his ability to jump out of the gym – to get him buckets and St. John's wasn't tagging off the shooters, so we see him down there wide open, we're going to get him the ball and he's going to finish like he did tonight."
"Samson was unreal tonight," added guard Cam Spencer. "I think he knew he would have a bigger role with Donovan going out and having to step up. But he was unbelievable on the boards, making big plays, big finishes down the stretch and I was just really proud of him."
The Huskies (11-2 overall, 1-1 BIG EAST) have a Christmas break before the schedule resumes with a home game (Gampel Pavilion) against DePaul on Jan. 2, followed by back-to-back games on the road, at Butler (Jan. 5) and at Xavier (Jan. 10) – plenty of time for Johnson to settle into his expanded role. After two seasons of waiting for an opportunity -- and spurning chances to play somewhere else -- it is staring him in the face.
"Coach Hurley and the staff, they always believed in me," Johnson said when asked why he didn't transfer. "It's the way we practice every single day and the way they hold every player accountable. That was a big factor in me deciding to stay. I knew about it (other schools reaching out), but I didn't let that affect how I was going about things, especially during the March Madness run. I was all in on the team. Yeah, it was flattering, but I was still at UConn."
Which obviously means a lot to Johnson.
"Those are the type of people that we really value the heck out of and build a relationship with as we try to run a unique program," Coach Hurley said. "It's just a testament to the kid and to him trusting and loving UConn -- him loving the locker room he's in and the coaching staff and the things we do from a culture standpoint.
"And he doesn't have a bunch of bozos managing his career and feeding him a bunch of crap, telling him, 'Hey, go somewhere else .. you can be a starter, you can be a first-round pick.' You have other players, whether they have helicopter parents that are delusional about the kid .. or workout guys, or just other people that latch on along the way, who just don't do what's in the best interest of the kid in terms of really developing for the long term. Most of the people we get here are like Samson."
