NCAA Basketball: Top 10 players to wear jersey No. 35 in 2023-24 season

8. Samson Johnson (Connecticut)

A 6’10 forward originally from Togo, Johnson made his way to America and attended high school on the East Coast. He landed in Dan Hurley’s program three years ago and has been along the ride for a pair of national championships. Johnson has not been a key factor in either of those title runs, but this past junior season saw him with an increased role for the Huskies.

Playing far more minutes than as an underclassman, Johnson put up 5.4 points and 2.8 rebounds per game as a backup forward for UConn. He made an incredible 73.5% of his 2-point field goal attempts, a figure that led the Big East and ranked among the national leaders. Johnson also showed his potential as a shot blocker and certainly contributed during that stretch run for the Huskies.

Johnson came through with 15 points in a nice win over Texas in November and stepped into a starting role in late December when Donovan Clingan missed time. That brief run as a starter included a 16-point effort in a win over St. John’s. After contributing to a Big East Tournament title with 12 points in their first round win over Xavier, Johnson played decent minutes off the bench en route to national glory. Most notable was his 10 points against Illinois in the Elite Eight.