The Story of Javan Johnson

DePaul men’s basketball forward Javan Johnson celebrates after hitting a three-point shot in overtime against Loyola-Chicago on December 3, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune.

If you hear a “swish!” coming from the Sullivan Athletic Center practice courts on DePaul University’s Lincoln Park campus, chances are it’s Javan Johnson working on his offensive game.

 The 6-foot-6 graduate forward has had an interesting path through his life with stops in Alabama, Iowa and Illinois.

 “I’m from Decatur, Alabama,” Johnson said. “I had a pretty chill childhood. I grew up with my mom mainly and she pretty much raised me. I got one little brother and he’s 16 now and so we kinda grew up a little bit together.”

 While he enjoyed his childhood in Alabama, Johnson was introduced to basketball, which brought him the most joy.

 “My grandad used to play back in the day so he kinda introduced me to it when I was younger.”

 Johnson grew as he got older and this growth spurt helped him become more talented in basketball, instead of pursuing a career in football. During Johnson’s freshman year in high school, he started to experience success and gain confidence.

 “I got moved up to varsity and I had like 25 [points] in one game and I was like ‘I feel like I can do something with this, I feel like I can play college and be better than my peers around me,’ so I feel like I had a talent at that time when I got moved up.”

 Johnson unfortunately suffered a knee injury his senior year of high school, losing high-major offers and settling on Troy University in Alabama.

 “I got a lot of playing time and was able to get exposure to the point where I could transfer,” Johnson said.

 After two years at Troy, current DePaul head coach Tony Stubblefield tried to recruit Johnson to the University of Oregon, but he transferred to Iowa State University instead. Johnson sat out his first year there but played in 2020-2021.

Unfortunately, the season was not anywhere close to expectations, with Iowa State recording an unfathomable 0-18 record in conference play. Johnson played well but caught COVID-19 twice and had to miss multiple games, hurting his team.

 “Playing in the Big 12, which is the best conference in the nation, it’s not easy to come back right from having ten days off to go right back to playing,” Johnson said. “If we were healthy the whole year, we definitely would’ve won 15 to 16 games, but we just kept catching COVID,” he said with a chuckle. “One game we played with like six people.

 “We were in a lot of those games, but you know it’s possession games. If it comes down to a couple possessions, and they make those extra plays because they’re older and they just have more experience, it’s gonna be hard for you to come out on top.”

 Iowa State’s coach was fired after that season, prompting Johnson to want to transfer elsewhere for his final two years of eligibility.

 When looking at options for his future, Johnson re-connected with Stubblefield at DePaul. Johnson was drawn by Stubblefield’s teams’ playing style and the city of Chicago as well.

 “When I came out here and saw Chicago, I’m like ‘yeah, I could live out here’ and it’s a lot better than living in Iowa,” Johnson said. “It’s night and day, it’s crazy.”

 Johnson is well-liked by his teammates, including junior guard and roommate Caleb Murphy.

 “Javan is an excellent teammate. He works hard, one of the teammates that pushes us and he’s a leader on our team,” Murphy said. “He can definitely bring a lot of buckets, he’s a bucket getter for sure. He can score from all three levels, he’s got the post fade, three-point shot, float, everything, pullup.”

 Johnson has backed up Murphy’s praises with an average of 16 points per game so far this season and hopes to make it to the NBA. He also wants to create businesses off the basketball court, with plans to open a smoothie and juicery down in Alabama next summer.

 “I’m glad that I was able to go to different places,” Johnson said. “Looking back on my life, I would do it the exact same way. I’m so glad with all the people that I’ve met and everything at different places at different universities with what they’ve brought to me and living in different locations.”