Sixth-year guard RJ Johnson is in his first and final year with the University of Rhode Island after three seasons at Charleston Southern University.
Johnson’s contributions with Rhode Island surpass the stat sheet. His basketball IQ has earned praise from URI Head Coach Archie Miller, who considers him an extra coach on the court.
“From a young age, my dad always had me watching basketball,” Johnson said. “I watched a lot of basketball growing up. I watched a lot of film, that was big in my household growing up, so I think that helped a lot with my IQ.”
The appeal of URI grew through learning the team’s system and having the chance to compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference, according to Johnson.
“The things that Rhode Island did last year offensively were similar to what I was doing in Charleston Southern,” Johnson said. “The A-10 is a great league, it’s guard-heavy, it’s competitive every night, there are some really good teams.”
Johnson has said earlier in the season that he wasn’t playing at the level he hoped for in his final season. In a new school after playing three years in Charleston Southern, in a new role he’s never played before, he’s been open about how hard it was adjusting to it.
“The beginning was most definitely difficult,” Johnson said. “I’ve never come off the bench before in my life. The last time I did was my freshman year of high school, so nine years ago, so that was a big adjustment.”
On Dec. 22 against Northeastern University, Johnson led Rhode Island in scoring with a season-high 19 points off the bench, contributing to the Rams’ 57 total bench points.
“You have to approach the game a little differently; you have to be a spark, go in there and change things,” Johnson said, “so it pushed me to grow in areas I think will pay off eventually.”
Despite Johnson’s slow start, he’s stepped up his game recently. Johnson has started the last two games the Rams have played against the University of Dayton on Jan. 27 and Duquesne University on Sunday.
Perhaps his best moment of the season came against the University of Richmond on Jan. 21, where he had the game-winning shot in the final two seconds.
“We called up a play, basically a ghost out to a pin down for [third-year] Jonah Hinton, we were looking for [fifth-year Keeyan] Itejere on the slip because we knew they might be switching,” Johnson said. “Both options weren’t really open, and then a couple of seconds left, it really turned into 1-4 flat to be honest with how the floor was balanced, so I took matters into my own hands and got all the space I needed.”
Johnson and the Rams will face off against Richmond again this Saturday in the Ryan Center, where they will try to gain their momentum back after a 76-61 loss to Duquesne on Sunday. Also, be sure to check out Johnson’s new song “Rhody Boys” on Spotify and Apple Music.
