No one could be quite sure how Samson Johnson would fare as he stepped in for injured Donovan Clingan, but he rose to the occasion and made a difference in UConn's win over St. John's on Saturday night.
HARTFORD — Dan Hurley was careful with this pep talk. Samson Johnson knew what was at hand, and Hurley knew that he knew.
“You don’t want to spook him,” Hurley said.
Nope, no pressure or anything Sam. So you’re stepping in for maybe the best big man in the country, a projected lottery pick, and you’ve got to face one of the best, and most experienced big men in the Big East in a game your team can’t afford to lose. The XL Center will be sold out, and if you fail, you’ll hear about it. … But, hey, you got this.
UConn men hold off St. John’s for 69-65 win in Big East home opener
It was all inherent by Saturday morning, when it was determined Donovan Clingan’s foot injury would keep him out three to four weeks. Life without Clingan won’t be easy, but life with Johnson, after his 16-point performance in the Huskies’ white-knuckled win, 69-65, over St. John’s Saturday night, may not be so bad.
“Samson is a different player,” Tristen Newton said. “We wanted him to pick-and-roll and get to the rim. It wasn’t really back-to-the-basket, but we utilized his strengths, his ability to jump out of the gym to get buckets. We’ve got great shooters, so they weren’t tagging off the shooters, so when we see Samson down there wide open, we’re going to get him the ball and he’s going to finish.”
It’s a unique challenge, but the Huskies (11-2, 1-1 in the Big East) have a unique player to meet it. In the age of easy transfer, Johnson, a 6-foot-10 junior, stayed on the bus he boarded out of the Patrick School in New Jersey, following Adama Sanogo from there to UConn. Another big man, maybe nearly any other big man, might have looked at Sanogo and Clingan ahead of him and, after being mostly a spectator to the national championship run, looked for the exit.
Samson played only 114 minutes across his first two seasons and Hurley was, in fact, taking phone calls from other schools anticipating he would be in the transfer portal. But Johnson is cut different. “Yeah, it was (flattering) … but I was still at UConn,” he said.
“… There are people we just value the heck out of and try to build a relationship with and run a unique program,” Hurley said. “It’s just a testament to the kid and him trusting and loving UConn, loving the locker room he is in and the coaching staff and the things we do from a culture standpoint.
“Plus, he doesn’t have like, Bozos, who are managing his career and feeding him a bunch of (stuff), telling him, ‘hey, go somewhere else, you could be a started, you could be a first-round pick.’ Where you have other players who have helicopter parents, or workout guys or other people that latch on along the way and don’t do what’s in the best interest of the kid in terms of really developing in the long term.”
So Johnson, from Lome, Togo, who speaks four languages, understood he wasn’t just being strung along and was willing to work, fight, wait for his opportunity. And on Saturday night, there he was. First possession of the game, he shook free under the basket, grabbed an offensive rebound and threw it down. The full house, 15,684, went wild, none more than Clingan on the bench, and Johnson, opportunity tucked in his arms, was off and running with it.
“Coming into the game, I just wanted to make all the right plays, all the tough plays,” Johnson said. “And to start like that, with the put-back dunk was amazing. It got the crowd going.”
He scored six of the Huskies’ first eight points, and kept them close when Rick Pitino’s pressure and zone defense had them out of sorts most of the first half. Johnson played 30 minutes, staying on the court down the tense stretch despite four fouls and holding his own in the statistical battle with the Red Storm’s Joel Soriano, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds, but got off only five shots from the floor.
“We tried to get the ball to Joel every chance we could get,” Pitino said.
With Clingan on the sidelines, and Hurley publicly, rather pointedly admonishing him to get and keep his weight down, the next month will be a slog. The eight January games, which include Creighton, Villanova, Butler and two against Xavier, could make or break UConn’s hopes for a favorable NCAA Tournament draw.
It was great being back in Hartford last night!! Really enjoyed winning a close game. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Connecticut!
— Dan Hurley (@dhurley15) December 24, 2023
“It’s not going to be pretty, ” Hurley said. “We’re going to have to find ways to win.”
After Clingan went down with 14 points at Seton Hall on Wednesday, things fell apart. Johnson got off two shots, scoring two points with two rebounds in 21 minutes.
But in their muted conversations this week, Hurley reminded Johnson of how well he played against quality competition in the preseason scrimmages, with Clingan out, and how big a factor he was in the Huskies’ victory over Texas at Madison Square Garden, his 15 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“Coach Hurley and the staff here, they always believed in me,” Johnson said. “The way we practice every single day, the way they hold every player accountable, those were a big factor in me deciding to stay. I knew about (other schools calling), but I didn’t let that affect how I was going about things, especially during the March Madness run, I was all in for the team.”
Have a night, Sam! 
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— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) December 24, 2023
Now the team, the crowd, is all in for Samson Johnson. After that loss to Seton Hall, and after playing Santa Clause at a holiday event last week, Hurley decided Christmas needed to be saved in Connecticut. And Johnson, his future now so bright, stepped up to guide the sleigh this night.
“I’m so proud, I don’t think I’ve never been prouder of a guy stepping in for such a critical piece,” Hurley said. “If he didn’t play like that, we have no chance, because he played against one of the best big guys in the country and won the matchup. I think Samson’s game is going to take off, and when The Big Fella comes back, we’re going to be stronger.”
Samson can FLY
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— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) December 24, 2023