Since the UConn Huskies joined the new Big East Conference following the 2019-20 academic year, the center position on the men’s basketball team has been dominated by Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan. Forward-turned-center Samson Johnson, who went to The Patrick School in Union, N.J., the same school as Sanogo, looks to be the next center to help compete in the Big East.
At the beginning of the 2022-23 season, Johnson was the starting power forward before getting hurt in the season opener against Stonehill. He did not see the floor much in that season, playing in just 12 games.
However, his role changed dramatically during his time at UConn, and now has a chance to be the starting center after appearing in 40 games as Clingan’s backup last season.
“The table’s set for him to get out there and now he’ll have this opportunity,” head coach Dan Hurley said about Johnson’s development. “He’s taken all the steps in his career here, and last year, obviously, was a big confidence builder.”
Hurley and his coaching staff aim to play the Lomé, Togo native the way that Marquette head coach Shaka Smart played Oso Ighodaro, who made the All-Big East second team the past two seasons.
“We had him watch a lot of Ighodaro,” he said in a media availability on Sep. 27. “I love the way that Marquette deployed him and the way they used him, and he’s got a lot of those attributes. He innately does a lot of things that Ighodaro does, so we’ve asked him to look at that a lot and we’re trying to implement some of that.”
Johnson started at center seven times last season, which was due to the brief absence of Clingan. This year, however, he will need to earn his spot among the starting five.
“He knows it’s his time for the role he’s wanted here,” Hurley said. “He’s got to, obviously, earn it over the next 29 practices/moments to compete. I think he sees an opportunity for himself now to be a featured player on the team. He’s been a key player, especially last year– a major impact player, but now he’s got a chance to be a frontline player.”
Hurley was asked if there was a player over the years used similar to how he plans to use Johnson, and he said that there was not.
“He’s unique,” he explained. “We’d like him to get the ball off the backboard, advance the ball, let the guards get down the court. He came into school as a stretch-four without a consistent 3-point shot. So, he’s had to reshape and reshape himself and develop a different identity.”
With all the hype coming into the hunt for a historic third-consecutive national championship, his teammates believe that Johnson, in his senior year, is up to the task.
“He’s done a lot,” forward Alex Karaban said. “He’s playing off the dribble a lot more, and he’s really transformed his game to kind of like a point-center at times.”
However, there will be a competition between him and Michigan transfer Tarris Reed Jr., who is expected to get playing time for the Huskies this season.
“He’s physical, tall, strong. He can do a lot of things,” Johnson said, noting that Reed will be a “good fit with the way we play.”
The last time a center finally broke through in a starting role as a senior was Souleymane Wane during the 2000-01 season. They both had assistant coach Tom Moore on the coaching staff, who said they both had “very similar” paths to their respective starting roles.
“They’re very similar in the sense that when we got them, they were very raw, weren’t very refined,” Moore said in an interview over the phone Wednesday night. “It was a lot of work that went into developing them.”
Moore praised assistant coach Luke Murray, who works with the centers, for how he developed Johnson.
“Samson really has benefited a great deal from having to go up against Adama and Donovan every day,” Moore continued. “We have a saying that ‘iron sharpens iron.’ So, Samson’s been sharpening some pretty good iron in practice over the last couple of years.”
Moore also noted that those physical battles helped Johnson prepare for taking on Reed in practice.
“Samson’s a much tougher player than people probably give him credit for because he’s a nice kid and a quiet kid,” Moore said. “But he battles, and he never backs down and he does it every day. The best thing that he does is he consistently comes into practice every day with eyes wide open and a great attitude, and he’s always trying to get better.”
Moore said the best word to describe Johnson is “reliable.”
“He’s much more reliable,” Moore said, comparing to when Johnson was a freshman. “He’s got that ball screen and lob threats that’s become elite, really.”
The table’s set for him to get out there and now he’ll have this opportunity… He’s taken all the steps in his career here, and last year, obviously, was a big confidence builder.
UConn Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hurley
His threat on lob passes was prominent last year, with guards Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Stephon Castle all considered good lob passers. Expect the lob passes to Johnson to continue this season. Moore said that guard Hassan Diarra throws them well and noted that former Saint Mary’s guard Aidan Mahaney is now learning to throw a lot of lob passes to Johnson.
“I think he’s probably as good as any mobile five in the country at how quick he is getting out of a dribble handoff or a ball screen and rolling for a lob,” Moore said. “He’s such an incredible, like quick, twitch athlete. He’s fun to watch every day in practice.”
The Huskies will begin their search for a third-consecutive national title on Oct. 14, where they take on Rhode Island, Hurley’s former school, at Mohegan Sun Arena in a charity exhibition game.