Know Your Team: Chris Johnson
Cape Breton Highlanders
6’5
Guard
From North Preston, Nova Scotia
High-scoring Chris Johnson's widely varied career now finds him putting in some of the biggest numbers of his career in the NBL Canada.
Starting at Kilgore in Texas, Johnson moved to New York to play for the St Bonaventure Bonnies, where he was also teammate of Andrew Nicholson - former Orlando Magic and Washington Wizards player, now with Fujian in China.
With the Bonnies, he reached the NCAA Division 1 championship in his junior year, but the the team lost in the first round 66-63 to Florida State. He was the team starter in his senior year, where he averaged 12.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Straight out of St Bonaventure, Johnson joined the Glasgow Rocks of the British Basketball League and later became a starter for Baskets Schwelm in Germany. Playing in every 2014-15 ProB game, he averaged 18.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Schwelm.
The following season, he made his first appearance in the NBL Canada, playing eleven games for the Niagara River Lions. He then joined Illiabum in Portugal for the 2016-17 LPB season, and finished averaging 10.5 points per game.
His time in Portugal over, he made his way back to Canada, signing with the Island Storm. Starting in 30 of 34 games in the 2017-18 season, he averaged 17.2 points - the 14th best average in the league - and 4.1 rebounds per game, as well as having the fourth-best three-point percentage in all of the league.
Having one of his best end-of-season records of his career, Johnson obviously made an impression on the Cape Breton Highlanders, as they traded Shand Osayande to the Storm for him. No doubt they will be hoping Johnson can repeat his performance of last season, only now in a Highlanders uniform.
