Know Your Team: Isaiah Johnson & Mamadou Gueye
The Sudbury Five have had ups and downs in their inaugural season, but giving them a big boost have been two late additions to their roster.
Isaiah Johnson
6'10
Forward/Centre
From Cincinnati, Ohio
A graduate of Walnut Hills High School, Johnson went on to play four seasons with the Akron Zips in the NCAA Division 1. The 2015-16 season proved to be his break-out year, where he won Sixth Man of the Year and All-Metro Atlantic Conference first team honours.
He was named to the MAC first team the following season, his last for Akron, where he started in all 36 games and averaged16.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists per game on 62% field shooting, on his way to winning the MAC Player of the Year award.
Johnson then turned professional and played eight games for Nassjo in Sweden, averaging 10.5 points, 6.7 rebounds. He signed for the Sudbury Five in 2019 - quickly becoming part of the starting line-up after scoring in double digits in two of his first three games and averaging 7.8 points and 4.8 rebounds after 12 games played.
Mamadou Gueye
6’7
Forward
From Edmonton, Alberta
In his first season with the Alberta Golden Bears, Gueye averaged 16.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest, and his efforts here earned him a spot on the Canadian team at the 2015 University Games. In the tournament itself Canada finished second in Group B, then lost in the quarter-finals to Germany, eventually securing seventh place after a final 91-65 win over Estonia.
Continuing his Golden Bears career, as a senior Gueye made the All-Canada West second-team while leading Alberta to a conference-best 19-1 record and to the Championship final, where the team lost to Calgary.
2018 saw him play for Schalke in the German second division, finishing on 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He also won the silver medal with Canada at the Empire Games and was part of the 3D Global Sports team that won that year's William Jones Cup.
Part-way through the NBL Canada season he joined the Sudbury Five - and did not take him long to make an impact, as he was named player of the week days after making his league debut.
Pictures: Thefive.ca, Albert Perez
