The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1177236
NOVEMBER 2019 ■ 63 MARKELL JOHNSON 11 Sr. • Cleveland • 6-1 • 175 G ANALYSIS Johnson continued his development toward being one of the best point guards in the ACC last season, and the hope is that in his final campaign for the Wolfpack he puts it all together and emerges as a first-team All-ACC candidate. CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Led the team in assists (4.2 per contest) and was second in scor- ing (12.6 points per game) in 2018-19 … Scored a career-high 27 points while outplaying Auburn's vaunted backcourt in the Pack's home win over the eventual Final Four participant … Had five other games of at least 20 points … Registered a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists in a loss at Duke … Missed three games after taking a hard fall during a home win over Pittsburgh … Was honorable mention All-ACC as a sophomore after leading the ACC in assists per game (7.3, which was the highest for a NC State player since Chris Corchiani averaged 9.6 in 1990-91) … Set a school record with five straight games of double-digit assists and also had four double-doubles … Was fifth in the ACC with 1.7 steals per game … Had a season-high 20 points to go with 11 assists in the overtime win at UNC … Played in 30 games as a freshman and made three starts … Finished second on the team in assists (68) and steals (26) … Scored a season-best 12 points against Notre Dame and had a second double-digit contest with 11 points against Virginia … Was a consensus four-star recruit coming out of East Tech High in Cleveland … Averaged 31.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game as a senior… Was named the Cleveland. com Boys Basketball Player of the Year and the Ohio Player of the Year in Division 1 … Led East Tech to its first appearance in the state semifinals since 1972 during his freshman season by scoring 27 points and hitting the game-winner at the buzzer in overtime. PERSONAL Son of Sabrina Johnson … Has a sister and a brother … Birthday is Aug. 25. 235 Johnson needs just 235 points to become the 52nd player in school history to reach 1,000 for his career. Last year Johnson had 415 points in the season. He needs 523 points to break into the top 30 on NC State's all-time scor- ing list. That's not the only records list Johnson can climb. He is al- ready 10th all time in assists and is a safe bet to reach fourth, cur- rently occupied by Clyde Austin. With 45 steals this year he would be just the 13th Wolfpacker to reach 150. STATISTICS Year G-GS MPG PPG RPG APG FG% 3FG% FT% 2016-17 30-3 20.4 4.0 1.6 2.3 37.7 25.0 57.7 2017-18 26-24 29.1 8.9 3.4 7.3 46.0 40.9 60.9 2018-19 33-30 25.3 12.6 2.6 4.2 48.8 42.2 74.7 BASKETBALL PREVIEW 2019-20 PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN