He played college basketball at the University of Akron, where he was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year for the 2016–17 season.
Johnson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended Walnut Hills High School.
[1] Johnson was recruited by college coaches in both sports, but opted to play basketball at Akron.
He averaged 16.6 points and 7.1 rebounds and provided one of the season's highlights when he uncharacteristically hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat Ball State.
[4] He led the Zips to a second consecutive MAC regular season title and was named the conference player of the year.