UNO’s Jordan Johnson earns state, national player of the week honors

FRISCO, Texas – The accolades continue to pour in for the University of New Orleans senior guard Jordan Johnson who was named the Associated Press and UBSWA (United States Basketball Writers Association) Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week along with Louisiana Sports Writer Association Player of the Week, all announced on Tuesday.

Johnson is the second player this season to earn national honors a Shahada Wells of McNeese has earned both the Oscar Robertson and Lute Olson Player of the Week honors earlier this season.

Johnson becomes the first Southland player to ever earn AP Player of the Week honors. The UBSWA selects five honorees each week. Johnson is joined by Lindenwood’s Keenon Cole, Omaha’s Frankie Fidler, Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht and Washington State’s Isaac Jones.

The native of Memphis, Tennessee, led New Orleans to a 2-1 start in SLC play with wins over Texas A&M-Commerce, 88-85, and two-time defending champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 83-80.

Against the Lions, he led the Privateers with a, then, season-best 36 points, while adding six assists, four rebounds and four steals, while connecting on the go-ahead bucket with under a minute to play.

Against the Islanders, Johnson logged a career-best 40 points with seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal to become the eighth men’s basketball player in Privateer history to score 40 points in a single game and the first to hit 40 points since Jamie McNeily in 2007.

“We are so proud of Jordan to receive such prestigious honors. He is playing at an elite level and deserves the national recognition. I am very fortunate to coach such a talented individual, but more importantly one of great character,” said Head Coach Mark Slessinger.

For the week, Johnson averaged 38.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game, while shooting 58.8% percent (20-of-34) from the field and 87.5 percent (28-of-32) at the free throw line.

Johnson is the first in program history to earn a national player of the week award since Privateer legend and former NBA player Ervin Johnson earned national recognition from CNN and Sports Illustrated twice in 1992-1993.