James Johnson Enjoying His Senior Season at Rutgers-Newark

A former two-sport all-star at Summit High School is making the most of his senior season at Rutgers-Newark.

And he's enjoying it, too.

James Johnson, who helped the Hilltoppers' basketball team to a three-year record of 62-21 and back-to-back North II, Group 2 titles in his sophomore and junior seasons in 2004 and 2005, looks to continue his solid play on the court heading into Saturday's key New Jersey Athletic Conference matchup at The College of New Jersey in Ewing.

Rutgers-Newark (11-4 overall, 3-2 NJAC) has won seven of its last eight games and is in third place in the NJAC North Division, heading into Saturday's road contest at The College of New Jersey.

"James was a large part of our sectional title teams," said Summit coach Eugene Maxwell. "James was a great player at Summit who averaged 20 points per game as a senior and is the most athletic and quickest player I've ever coached. James was a tremendous defender that improved in all aspects of the game each year that he was at Summit. His senior year he was a first-team All-Union County selection and led our team in scoring, steals and assists. James was a great player to coach and watch develop into a very good college player."

Having spent a lot of time at one of his favorite places, the Summit YMCA, where he could lift and hone his skills at the Y's open gymnasium, development as been a key to Johnson's success, not only on the high school level, but collegiate level as well.

"James came in with a lot of potential but a lot to learn. He did not play much his freshman year, but his sophomore year he earned minutes and he started to show that he can be a good player at our level," said Rutgers-Newark coach Joe Loughran, who is in his ninth season at the school. "He finished his junior year strongly by starting the last 12 games and shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. He has provided the team with a lot of energy and off-the-court, he has matured greatly and is taking his academics more seriously now."

Johnson's game has taken a step forward this season.

The 5-11 guard leads the Scarlet Raiders in scoring, averaging 12.9 points per game and has hit 50 percent from three-point range (25-of-50) in 14 games, 10 of which he has started.

Johnson, who is majoring in Criminal Justice and would like to go onto law school, scored a career-high 18 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, in a 61-57 road defeat to first-place William Paterson on Wednesday.

"It's been a good experience," said Johnson of his four years at R-N. "The first couple of years, I had to get adjusted to playing college ball and handling the classes and workload. In the last months of the season, I'm hoping to go on a run and win the NJAC and make  it to the NCAA tournament (Division III)."

The opening round of the NJAC Championship Tournament starts Saturday, Feb. 20.

"He has meant a lot to our program," added Loughran. "He was guy I thought that went under recruited coming out of high school and he has turned himself into one of the better guards in our league. I am very happy that he came here and I am also very happy that he is having a solid career both as player and as a student."