Ashante D. Johnson (born May 12, 1976) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played the majority of his 10-year career in Europe.

College career

After graduating from

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Scripps Ranch High School Scripps Ranch High School (SRHS) is a public school located in northeast San Diego, California, United States, that serves the Scripps Ranch community as well as students participating in the Voluntary Enrollment Exchange Program (VEEP) busing pro ...

in 1995, Johnson joined the

Utah Utes men's basketball The Utah Utes men's basketball team, also known as the Runnin' Utes, represents the University of Utah as an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Pac-12 Conference, and are currently owned by Brigham Young University star Rudi Williams. They ...

team where he redshirted the 1995–96. He played out his freshman season at Utah in 1996–97 before transferring to

Cañada College Cañada College is a public community college in Redwood City, California. It is located on in the western part of Redwood City. It is one of the smallest community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. History In 1957, the San Mateo Jun ...

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

, for his sophomore season in 1997–98. After averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds per game as a sophomore, Johnson transferred to

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

where he played out his junior and senior seasons.

Professional career

Johnson went undrafted in the 2000 NBA draft. In August 2000, he signed a one-year deal with

JDA Dijon Basket Jeanne d'Arc Dijon Basket, commonly known as JDA Dijon Basket or simply Dijon, is a professional basketball club from the city of Dijon, France. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the French first tier division. The club has won the Frenc ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

. After a disappointing start to the season, he was released by the club in late 2000. Returning home, he played briefly for the short-lived San Diego Wildfire of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

, then met a Finnish coach at a workout camp in Los Angeles. The coach liked what he saw and signed him for the 2001–02 season. Johnson went on to average 26 points and 10 rebounds per game for Pyrbasket Tampere. After a one-game stint for the

Dodge City Legend The Dodge City Legend was a professional basketball franchise located in Dodge City, Kansas in the United States Basketball League, a minor league that played in the spring. The Legend won three USBL titles, in 2000, its first season, 2003 and in ...

during the 2002

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

season, Johnson signed with

ČEZ Basketball Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly pl ...

of the Czech Republic for the 2002–03 season. Teaming up with point guard Maurice Whitfield, Johnson injected a dose of above-the-rim dash to the floor-bound Czech game. Nymburk, which only three years before was toiling in the Czech league's second division, fought its way to the brink of an NBL title. With a bit more name recognition and professional experience, Johnson returned to California and secured a spot at the Kings' veterans training camp. Gunning for a slot on one of the NBA's most loaded teams, he played well and hung on into the fall preseason. However, he was released two weeks before the start of the

2003–04 NBA season The 2003–04 NBA season was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Events This was the last season for the original two-div ...

, the next-to-last cut before the team set its roster. Johnson subsequently returned to the Czech Republic where he and Whitfield helped Nymburk close out the regular season on April 1 with a 30–2 record. Redeeming themselves from just missing out in 2002–03, Nymburk and Johnson went on to win their maiden championship. The club has since gone on to win every year since, having recently recorded their 11th championship in 2013–14. After spending another season and winning another championship with Nymburk in 2004–05, Johnson joined the

Aisin Seahorses Seahorses Mikawa is a Japanese professional basketball team located in Kariya and sponsored by Aisin. The team was founded in 1947. The team played in the National Basketball League. In July 2015 it was announced that the team will compete in ...

of the Japanese

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

for the 2005–06 season. He then joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

of Portugal for the 2006–07 and

Ironi Nahariya Ironi Nahariya Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל עירוני נהריה; ) known for sponsorship reasons as Ironi Rain Nahariya () is a professional basketball club based in city of Nahariya in northern Israel. The team plays in t ...

of Israel for the 2007–08 season. After beginning the 2008–09 season with Nahariya, Johnson signed with

Atomerőmű SE Atomerőmű SE, sometimes shortened to ASE, is a Hungarian professional basketball team based in Paks. The team plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I/A, the highest professional league in Hungary. The team was founded in 1979 and has won the Hungaria ...

of Hungary in October 2008. On August 16, 2009, Johnson signed with Hapoel Afula for the 2009–10 season.רבי החתים את אשאנטה
In December 2009, he left Afula and signed with the

Zain Club Zain Basketball Club formerly known as ''Fastlink Basketball Club'' was a Jordanian basketball club based in Amman, Jordan. They compete in the Jordanian Premier Basketball League and have won six consecutive Jordanian championships in the period ...

of the

Jordanian Premier Basketball League The Jordanian Premier Basketball League is a professional basketball league in Jordan. It is the top league in the country with the second-tier league going by the name of ''First Division''. There are six teams competing in the 2022 league: ...

where he had a short stint before leaving the club in January 2010.

References

External links