April 15, 2015 Inside LMU Women's Basketball | LMU on Facebook |
Women's Basketball Inks Four (Nov. 13, 2014)
LOS ANGELES - Jackie Johnson, a 6-2 forward hailing from Prairie, Minn., and the University of Minnesota, will join the LMU women's basketball program, third-year Head Coach Charity Elliott announced Wednesday.
"We are so excited to bring in Jackie," said Elliott. "She brings us some tremendous experience and maturity and even as a redshirt this season, we are expecting her to have a huge impact on our team. She knows what it means to battle every day and will bring that work ethic on a daily basis."
Due to transfer rules, Johnson will sit out the 2015-16 season and officially join the Lions' active roster in 2016-17 with one year of eligibility.
A 2012 graduate of Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota, Johnson was ranked among ESPNU's top-100 on ESPN.com, as well as ranked No. 13 nationally at her position. She was nominated to the 2012 McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Team, ranked the No. 1 recruit in the state of Minnesota by GPrep.net and was a Minnesota Miss Basketball finalist.
Johnson holds the Eden Prairie High School records for career blocks (254) and rebounds (888), while ranking second in points (1,460). She also holds single-season records in points (485), rebounds (293), blocks (108) and steals (74), and twice participated in the state tournament.
She spent two seasons (2012-13 and 2013-14) on the court for the Gophers of Minnesota. She saw action in 12 games as a freshman, earning the team's Golden Gopher Award. As a sophomore she was named the team's Most Improved Player, averaging 2.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game in an average of 11.2 minutes per game. Johnson was sidelined for the 2014-15 season due to injury.
We are thrilled to have this season to work with Jackie and look forward to her being able to step on the floor in a year for us," Elliott added. "She posts up big, rebounds and runs well and can step out and knock 3's down. We are so excited to welcome her to the LMU family."
Johnson joins sisters Andee and Bianca Velasco (Mater Dei High School), Cheyanne Wallace (Sierra Canyon High School) and Megan Robertson (Del Campo High School/Sierra College), who all signed National Letters of Intent and are set to join the LMU women's basketball program beginning in 2015-16.
