Duane Johnson (basketball)

High school career

Johnson attended Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, where he was a two-time first-team All-Delaware County honoree playing for coach Clyde Jones. As a senior in 2008–09, he led Penn Wood in scoring (13.7 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and blocked shots (1.9 bpg), and was team captain. He subsequently earned second-team All-District I and second-team AAAA all-state honors as a senior, helping the Patriots finish with an overall win/loss record of 28–4. On March 21, 2009, he helped guide Penn Wood to their first state basketball title in school history, defeating York William Penn 72–53. In the title game, Johnson recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Johnson finished his high school career on Penn Wood's 1,000-point scorers list (1,082).

College career

As a freshman at East Stroudsburg in 2009–10, Johnson played in all 30 games for a 24–6 Warriors team that competed in the PSAC Final Four and NCAA Tournament. He averaged 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game, and earned three PSAC East Freshman of the Week honors. In his third game for the Warriors, he scored a season-high 16 points.

As a sophomore in 2010–11, Johnson earned second-team All-PSAC East honors after leading the Warriors in scoring (12.4 ppg) and ranking third in rebounding (4.9 rpg). He played in 28 games and made 27 starts, and helped the Warriors reach their second straight PSAC Final Four. He also earned Pocono Classic All-Tournament Team honors. In the second last game of the season, he scored a season-high 26 points.

As a junior in 2011–12, Johnson earned first-team All-PSAC East honors and helped the Warriors win the PSAC championship, guiding them back to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. He appeared in 32 games for the Warriors and started 31 of them, averaging 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 32.7 minutes per game. On February 4, he scored a career-high 29 points against Kutztown.

As a senior in 2012–13, Johnson earned second-team All-PSAC East honors after helping the Warriors to a third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, and a fourth straight PSAC Final Four appearance. He was subsequently named ESU's Male Senior Athlete of the Year and ESU's Coaches Award recipient alongside Terrance King. He started in all 28 games for the Warriors as a senior, averaging 14.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals in 31.5 minutes per game. During the season, the team recorded a school record-tying 14-game winning streak, and had a nine-game road winning streak, the latter coming to an end one game shy from tying a school record set between 1926–28. Both streaks came to an end on February 16 against Shippensburg, a game which saw Johnson tie his career high of 29 points.

In four years at ESU, Johnson and teammate Terrance King led the Warriors to unprecedented success, including an 82–37 record from 2009–10 through 2012–13. Johnson left ESU seventh in career points (1,347), ninth in rebounds (608), fourth in steals (148) and eighth in blocks (90), and was just the third three-time All-PSAC East selection in program history. In addition, Johnson played 3,267 career minutes, the most by an ESU player since 1990, and led the Warriors in minutes played as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Australia (2014)

In December 2013, Johnson signed his first professional contract with the Corio Bay Stingrays of the Australian Big V State Championship competition. He was touted as being one of the most athletic imports ever to play in Geelong, as well as the most athletically gifted player in the league. Johnson made his debut for the Stingrays in their 2014 season opener on March 15, scoring 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting in a 102–86 win over the Ringwood Hawks. On March 29, he recorded his first double-double of the season with 27 points and 12 rebounds in a 98–97 win over the Bulleen Boomers. On June 14, he had a season-best game with 17 points and 18 rebounds in a 94–63 win over the Whittlesea Pacers. In their previous encounter on May 3, the Pacers held Johnson to seven points and four rebounds—both season lows. On June 28, he scored a season-high 30 points, on 13-of-19 shooting with 14 rebounds, in a 97–90 win over Bulleen. He had a second 30-point effort on July 20 in a 100–98 win over the Waverley Falcons. He appeared in 22 of the Stingrays' 24 regular season games (after missing a pair of Round 6 clashes), helping them finish in second place on the ladder with a 22–2 record. After defeating the first-seeded Ringwood in the Qualifying Final and then the Sherbrooke Suns in the Preliminary Final, the Stingrays reached the Big V SCM Grand Final for the second consecutive year. In Game 1 of the best-of-three grand final series against the Hawks in Ringwood, Johnson had a 25-point, 9-rebound effort in a 92–85 win. Despite going up 1–0 and having home court advantage (with Games 2 and 3 being in Geelong), the Stingrays stumbled in the next two games to lose the series 2–1. In his first season out of college, Johnson scored in double figures in all but one game and registered 13 double-doubles. In 27 games for the Stingrays, Johnson averaged 20.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. He was subsequently named a nominee for All-Star forward selection, but ultimately missed out on the final All-Star Five team.

The Basketball Tournament (2015)

In June 2015, Johnson was selected to play for the Sideline Cancer basketball team in the second annual The Basketball Tournament (TBT). The team's first game of the tournament came on July 18 in a second-round match-up with the North Broad Street Bullies. Johnson recorded five points and three rebounds as a starter, helping Sideline Cancer win 72–63. The win moved the team on to the third round, where they faced Big Apple Basketball the following day. Johnson again started for Sideline Cancer, and with 11 points and 10 rebounds, he helped the team upset the No. 2 seeded Big Apple with a 70–67 win, advancing them to the Super 17 in Chicago. On July 24, Sideline Cancer faced Team City of Gods, but despite Johnson's 10 points and four rebounds, the team was eliminated from the tournament with a 91–78 loss.

Ireland (2015–2016)

On November 20, 2015, Johnson signed with DCU Saints for the rest of the 2015–16 Irish Premier League season. He made his debut for the team the following day, recording 16 points and 30 rebounds in a 73–70 regular season win over UCD Marian. His next game came on December 5 in a National Cup match-up with UCD Marian, a game Saints lost 80–67 despite Johnson's 18 points and 26 rebounds; this loss knocked them out of the National Cup. In his third game with the team, a regular season contest against UL Eagles on December 13, Johnson scored a career-high 40 points to help Saints garner a 96–78 win. In that game, he also recorded 26 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks. After starting the regular season with a 0–6 win/loss record prior to signing Johnson, Saints improved to 3–7 at the conclusion of Round 10, largely thanks to Johnson's 29.8 points, 21.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 3.8 blocks per game over his first four regular season games. On January 7, 2016, he was named Player of the Month for December. Saints finished the regular season in sixth place on the ladder with a 7–11 win/loss record, going 7–5 to end the season after starting 0–6. Johnson appeared in 12 regular season games for Saints, averaging league-leading numbers with 26.2 points and 18.7 rebounds per game, in addition to 3.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 3.1 blocks in 38.7 minutes per game. He subsequently earned Premier League All-Star First Pick honors.

Return to TBT (2016)

In June 2016, Johnson re-joined the Sideline Cancer basketball team for the third annual The Basketball Tournament (TBT). On July 16, Sideline Cancer lost their first-round match-up with The Untouchables, bowing out of the tournament with a 106–94 defeat. In 21 minutes off the bench, Johnson recorded 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Luxembourg (2016–2017)

On July 23, 2016, Johnson signed with Black Star Mersch of the Luxembourg Nationale 2. He had two 30-point games and one 31-point game to start the season, but all three contests resulted in losses. Black Star got their first win on October 15 behind a 20-point effort from Johnson, but recorded their fourth loss a week later despite Johnson's 23 points. In the first round of the National Cup on October 27, Johnson recorded 30 points, six rebounds and one block in 38 minutes in an 84–73 loss to Racing. Black Star's second win of the season came on October 29, with Johnson scoring 28 points. In Black Star's next game on November 5, Johnson scored a season-high 38 points. He topped that mark on November 13 with a 41-point effort.

His efforts over the three games following their National Cup loss led to Black Star setting a three-game win streak. However, following this streak, Black Star went on to lose four in a row between November 19 and December 10. Over that stretch, Johnson totalled 86 points, including scoring 26 of the team's 49 points in a 26-point loss to Racing and a season-low 10 points in a 73–60 loss to Telstar Hesperange. On December 18, he scored 34 points in an 85–81 win over AS Soleuvre, ending the four-game losing streak. Four days later, he scored 35 points in a 100–89 loss to BBC US Hiefenech Heffingen. On January 10, 2017, he scored 19 points in a 93–48 win over Préizerdaul. In Black Star's next game on January 14, he scored just two points before breaking his leg during the first quarter. He was subsequently replaced in the line-up by Gavin Thurman. In 16 games for Black Star, he averaged 26.1 points per game.

Third TBT stint (2017)

In May 2016, Johnson re-joined the Sideline Cancer basketball team for the fourth annual The Basketball Tournament (TBT). On July 8, in the team's first-round match-up with Zoo Crew, Johnson recorded 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 100–87 win. A day later, they were knocked out of the tournament following an 82–75 second-round loss to Team FOE. Johnson had 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss.