Jan. 20, 2012
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State has added James Johnson to its men's basketball program, head coach Steve Fisher announced today. The forward comes to Montezuma Mesa after spending the last one-and-a-half seasons at Virginia.
As a mid-year transfer, Johnson will sit out the remainder of the 2011-12 campaign and the first semester of the 2012-13 season. He will be eligible once fall 2012 semester grades are posted and have two-and-a-half seasons of eligibility left.
The Wildomar, Calif., native redshirted his true freshman season (2010-11) in Charlottesville before suiting up for the first time this year as a redshirt freshman. Johnson played in six games for the nationally ranked Cavaliers and averaged 1.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 6.2 minutes. His top performance of the season came against South Carolina State when he scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in 13 minutes. Johnson also pulled down three rebounds against Green Bay.
Coming out of Elsinore High School, Johnson was a decorated player who averaged 18 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in his senior campaign. The 6-9, 238-pound forward inked with Virginia as the nation's No. 22 power forward and No. 108 player overall, according to Rivals.com, and was given a grade of 93 (out of 100) by ESPN.
After leading his squad to the 2009-10 Sunbelt Conference title with a 10-0 record, Johnson then guided Elsinore to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Division III tournament. His effort garnered him co-MVP honors of the Sunbelt, first-team all-valley accolades from the North County Times/The Californian, first-team placement on the all-CIF Southern Section Division III-AA squad, third-team all-state honors from Cal-Hi Sports and first-team all-Division III distinction from ESPNRise.com.
Prior to his time at Elsinore, played two seasons at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and attended Morse High in San Diego as a junior. While in Canada, Johnson was an all-conference pick after averaging 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks as a sophomore and was a member of the Alberta Provincial Men's U-17 team in 2007 and 2008.