City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@RichFlanagan33)
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To think that Ajiri Johnson has only been playing organized basketball in the United States for four seasons and become one of the best big men in the Philadelphia Catholic League is an impressive feat in itself.

The Bonner-Prendergast forward came over from Warri, Nigeria at age 15 and has quickly adapted to the speed and pace of the game. That ability to pick things up in a hurry while continuing to develop his individual skills at both ends of the floor led to a number of Division I schools showing strong interest in him. Ultimately for Johnson, one school was a step ahead of everyone else.

The 6-8, 190-pound forward decided to commit to Rider late last month, and his decision in choosing the Broncs was more than just about basketball.

“First of all, I feel Rider is the best fit for me,” Johnson said. “I’ve visited the school and spent time with the team and coaches. It’s a place I feel like a part of a family. Rider has a good education program and also a lot to offer me.

He chose the Broncos over La Salle, NJIT, Drexel, Lafayette and Monmouth. All of those options came after a long road to the U.S.

Johnson was discovered at a showcase in Nigeria and Duane Coverdale, an assistant with the WE R1 AAU program, sought the help of former Temple center Micheal Eric to persuade the young big man to pursue a basketball career in the U.S.

Johnson played his freshman basketball at Florida Prep Academy before moving to the Upper Darby section of Pa. to join the Friars. Unfortunately, he was unable to play his sophomore season due to not receiving his visa in time to enroll for classes. Instead, he enrolled at Putnam Science Academy (Conn.) and played there for a season.

His junior year was his first opportunity to play for Bonner-Prendergast and he did not disappoint, being named First Team All-Catholic after averaging 13.4 ppg which included a career-high 29-point performance vs Lansdale Catholic. The Friars (16-9, 7-6) fell to PCL champion Archbishop Wood, 65-43 in the quarterfinals then lost a state play-in game to Archbishop Carroll.

Friars head coach Jack Concannon has seen Johnson’s maturation as a player but stressed his young player’s biggest concern in picking a school to attend came down to two specific areas.

“He wanted to stay close to the area and no more than a two-hour car ride,” Concannon said. “Being an exchange student, most of the people he knows are in this area. They were the main schools who appealed to him. He wanted to go somewhere that he could get a good education and be close to home, and I think he accomplished both of those goals.”

Education has always been an integral part of Johnson’s decision in choosing where he wants to play and that was the deciding factor for him when choosing to enroll at Bonner-Prendergast. Still, Johnson’s skills on the court are what got him on head coach Kevin Baggett and the Broncs radar. In Johnson, they saw what they expect of a forward in their program and Johnson already knows what they expect of him when he arrives on campus in a year.

“They wanted an athletic forward who can run the floor and can spread out the defense at the three or four spot,” Johnson said. “I think that’s biggest area I’m going to work on with my game. I’m 6-8 and I’m big or strong enough to be a [center] but I can see myself as a three or four.

Last year, Rider (18-15, 10-10 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) fell to Iona in the conference tournament quarterfinals. The Broncos lost four starters in Jimmie Taylor (15.5 ppg), Kahlil Thomas (14.0), Norville Carey (11.3) and Xavier Lundy (10.5) from last season.

Stevie Jordan, who played three seasons at Conwell-Egan, started 28 games and avg. 11.7 ppg in his first full season with the Broncs. The roster is chock-full of local hoops products including Jordan, plus Kimar Williams and Ahmad Gilbert (Constitution), Tyere Marshall (Martin Luther King) and Anthony Durham (Abington).

Johnson still has one more season left before he arrives at the Lawrenceville, N.J. school and a new player on the Bonner-Prendergast roster is already helping with his development. Junior big man Tariq Ingraham transferred over from Salesianum (Del.) and the 6-9, 220-pound center will be patrolling the paint for the Friars.

This has forced Johnson to move to the power forward, where he will most likely be playing at the next level and Concannon feels the move will only benefit Johnson to work on areas of his game that he’ll need to be successful.

“He’s very comfortable shooting that 15 to 18-foot jump shot, which is something he’s going to need at the next level,” Concannon said. “He’s getting better with that every day and in two more years he’s going to be very comfortable shooting the three.”

Johnson concurred with his head coach and his main focus on being working on his perimeter game.

“I’ve been working on my jump shot and with Tariq down low I’ll need to be able to hit that,” Johnson said. “With another big guy, we don’t want to clog up the lane so that’s a big area for me to work on.”

Johnson has certainly come a long way whether it be moving around the U.S. or in his progression on the court but with his college decision now confirmed he can finally focus on his final season at Bonner-Prendergast where he said “our goal for this year is to go to the Palestra.”