Kiana Johnson

Kiana Johnson
No. 3 – BC Minsk
Position	Point guard
League	Úrvalsdeild kvenna
Personal information
Born	August 23, 1993 (age 31); Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
Listed height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Listed weight	63 kg (139 lb)
Career information
High school	Whitney Young; (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Michigan State (2011–2014); Virginia Union (2015–2016)
Playing career	2016–present
Number	3
Coaching career	2022–present
Career history
As player:
2016–2017	Forssan Alku
2017–2018	Tapiolan Honka
2018–2019	KR
2019–2021	Valur
2022	Societa Sportiva Bocca
2022–2023	Valur
2023–present	BC Minsk
As coach:
2022–2023	Valur (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
	As player: 2×Icelandic champion (2021, 2023); Icelandic Super Cup (2019); NCAA DII Player of the Year (2016); Big Ten All-Freshman Team (2012); Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP (2023); 2× Úrvalsdeild kvenna assist leader (2020, 2023); As assistant coach: Icelandic champion (2023);

Kiana Johnson (born August 23, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for Belarusian club BC Minsk. She played college basketball for Michigan State and Virginia Union, where she was named the NCAA DII Player of the Year in 2016. In 2021 and 2023, she won the Icelandic championship as a member of Valur.

College career

Johnson started her college career with Michigan State in 2011. She transferred to Virginia Union in 2014^[1] and sat out the 2014–2015 season due to NCAA Transfer Rules. During the 2015–2016 season, Johnson averaged 29.3 points and 8.7 assists,^[2] and was named the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament Player of the Year.^[3]^[4]

Playing career

In 2016, Johnson signed with Forssan Alku of the Finnish Naisten Korisliiga.^[5]^[3] For the season she averaged 18.9 points and 5.8 assists per game.^[6]

She remained in Finland the following season, signing with Tapiolan Honka.^[6] In 33 games, Johnson averaged 17.1 points and 5.5 assists per game.

In 2018, Johnson signed with KR of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna. On February 6, 2019, Kiana scored 50 points in a 102–81 victory against Breiðablik along with 16 rebounds and 10 assists.^[7]^[8] For the season, she averaged 23.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 3.4 steals.^[9]

In July 2019, Johnson signed with reigning Úrvalsdeild champions Valur.^[10] Valur opened the 2019–20 season by defeating Keflavík, 105–81, in the annual Icelandic Super Cup where Johnson posted 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and game-high 6 steals.^[11] In the Úrvalsdeild, she averaged 22.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and a league leading 8.2 assists per game. However, the last three games of the season and the whole playoffs were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland with Valur being named Divisional champions (Icelandic: Deildarmeistarar) for having the best record at the time but no national champions were crowned.

On 2 June 2021, she won the national championship after Valur beat Haukar 3–0 in the Úrvalsdeild finals.^[12]

After playing for Societa Sportiva Bocca in Venezuela, Johnson returned to Iceland and signed again with Valur in June 2022.^[13] During the regular season, she averaged 19.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and league leading 7.9 assists per game.^[14] On 26 October 2022, she scored a season high 30 points.^[15] On 28 April 2023, she won her second Icelandic championship after Valur defeated top-seeded Keflavík in the Úrvalsdeild finals, 3–1,^[16] with Johnson being named the Playoffs MVP.^[17]

In September 2023, Johnson signed with BC Minsk of the Belarusian Premier League.^[18]

Statistics

College statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	Points	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2011–12	Michigan State	32	228	38.3%	33.3%	70.5%	2.8	4.0	1.7	0.1	7.1
2012–13	Michigan State	25	233	36.3%	33.0%	81.6%	3.4	4.2	1.9	0.1	9.3
2013–14	Michigan State	19	160	38.2%	32.7%	65.4%	2.5	6.0	1.2	0.5	8.4
2014–15	Did not play – NCAA transfer rules
2015–16	Virginia Union	31	905	45.6%	40.7%	82.4%	4.7	8.7	4.1	0.2	29.2
Career		107	1526	41.8%	11.1%	78.6%	21.2	5.8	2.3	0.2	14.3

Source^[19]

References

^ Matt Estreich (1 August 2018). "Ex-MSU Spartan Kiana Johnson at home with Virginia Union". WWBT. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Virginia Union's Kiana Johnson Named National D-II Player of the Year". HBCU Sports. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ ^a ^b David Squires (19 October 2016). "Ex-Virginia Union star Kiana Johnson now lighting it up in Finland". Andscape. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Virginia Union's Kiana Johnson learning to leave legacy, on and off the court". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ Pasi Rakkolainen (24 October 2016). "Amerikan korikuningatar tuli Forssaan". Forssan Lehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Tehotakamies Kiana Johnson tahdittaa Hongan naisten hyökkäystä alkavalla kaudella". tapiolanhonka.fi (in Finnish). 11 September 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Allt í hnút í Dominosdeild kvenna". RÚV (in Icelandic). 6 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (7 February 2019). "Hefur hækkað sig um tuttugu í framlagi í tveimur leikjum í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Johnson úr KR í Val". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (8 July 2019). "Íslandsmeistararnir sækja sér Kana í KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 July 2019.
^ Anton Ingi Leifsson (29 September 2019). "Vandræðalaust hjá Val gegn Keflavík í Meistarakeppni KKÍ". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ Sæbjörn Þór Þórbergsson Steinke (2 June 2021). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Valur – Haukar 74–65 – Sópurinn á lofti og Valur Íslandsmeistari". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 June 2021.
^ "Íslandsmeistari snýr aftur í Val". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
^ "Kiana Johnson - Subway deild kvenna (2022-2023 Tímabil)". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
^ "Lykill: Kiana Johnson". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
^ Þorkell Gunnar Sigurbjörnsson (28 April 2023). "Valskonur eru Íslandsmeistarar í körfubolta". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ Árni Jóhannsson (28 April 2023). "Kiana: Það trúði engin að við myndum vinna mótið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 April 2023.
^ "Kiana Johnson (ex Valur) signs at BC Minsk". Eurobasket.com. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-19.

External links

Icelandic statistics at kki.is
Naisten Korisliiga statistics at korisliiga.fi
Virginia Union profile at vuusports.com
Michigan State profile at msuspartans.com

[1] Matt Estreich (1 August 2018). "Ex-MSU Spartan Kiana Johnson at home with Virginia Union". WWBT. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[2] "Virginia Union's Kiana Johnson Named National D-II Player of the Year". HBCU Sports. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[the-undefeated-2016-3] David Squires (19 October 2016). "Ex-Virginia Union star Kiana Johnson now lighting it up in Finland". Andscape. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[4] "Virginia Union's Kiana Johnson learning to leave legacy, on and off the court". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 22 February 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[5] Pasi Rakkolainen (24 October 2016). "Amerikan korikuningatar tuli Forssaan". Forssan Lehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[honka-2017-6] "Tehotakamies Kiana Johnson tahdittaa Hongan naisten hyökkäystä alkavalla kaudella". tapiolanhonka.fi (in Finnish). 11 September 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[7] "Allt í hnút í Dominosdeild kvenna". RÚV (in Icelandic). 6 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[8] Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (7 February 2019). "Hefur hækkað sig um tuttugu í framlagi í tveimur leikjum í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[mbl-2019-07-08-9] "Johnson úr KR í Val". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.

[10] Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (8 July 2019). "Íslandsmeistararnir sækja sér Kana í KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 July 2019.

[11] Anton Ingi Leifsson (29 September 2019). "Vandræðalaust hjá Val gegn Keflavík í Meistarakeppni KKÍ". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 September 2019.

[12] Sæbjörn Þór Þórbergsson Steinke (2 June 2021). "Umfjöllun og viðtöl: Valur – Haukar 74–65 – Sópurinn á lofti og Valur Íslandsmeistari". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 June 2021.

[13] "Íslandsmeistari snýr aftur í Val". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.

[14] "Kiana Johnson - Subway deild kvenna (2022-2023 Tímabil)". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 30 March 2023.

[15] "Lykill: Kiana Johnson". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 26 October 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.

[16] Þorkell Gunnar Sigurbjörnsson (28 April 2023). "Valskonur eru Íslandsmeistarar í körfubolta". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 April 2023.

[17] Árni Jóhannsson (28 April 2023). "Kiana: Það trúði engin að við myndum vinna mótið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 April 2023.

[18] "Kiana Johnson (ex Valur) signs at BC Minsk". Eurobasket.com. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.

[19] "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-05-19.

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