Elliot Johansson '23 Recruiting Profile

I was born with a basketball in my hand as both my mom and dad played and refereed the game. We moved to Chicago when I was 2 years old and my love for basketball was rooted there, watching many NBA games and playing with my brother. When we returned to Sweden I joined my brothers’ team of 8-year-olds when I was five, and since then I have always played with older players. What I have learned from playing this game is that perseverance and teamwork will take me further in life as well as in basketball. From a young age my parents have always been an influence, they shaped me to be a person with integrity and passion, a person who wants to be the best athlete, but also to be a good person.

I’m living in Cleveland, USA, doing a Post-Graduate year playing basketball 2022-23 at ISA, Cleveland.

I aspire to play for four years at college and hopefully take the step to professional basketball afterwards. At the same time I value both my academic and social development, and of course I want to take part of the American culture that I have already learned to appreciate through living in Chicago, Cleveland and many trips to the US while having a brother that played NCAA college basketball. 

My high school education took place at Tibble Gymnasium, Sweden. I studied Economics/National Athletics Education Basketball. I am self-motivated, organized, planful, open to take on new challanges, a hard worker, and diligent student. 

I played 2021-22 for AIK Basket  in National League Sweden Superettan (Second highest),  a semi-professional league with a high level of basketball. I competed everyday with national team players from different countries, former players from G-League, former NCAA D1 and D2 guys. I am still eligible for NCAA and NAIA.

I was really proud to represent my country in the Swedish National team for Men Under 15 and being the top scorer in our first tournament, but being cut from the National team one year later, just before the European Championships, was one of the most disappointing and humiliating moments of my life. When I look back at this now, I realize there is a lesson to be learned, and that is to always believe in myself, because if I don’t no one else will. I am using my disappointment to show them that they were wrong, and it fuels my motivation to train more, harder, better. My mother always tells me - study hard so you can choose what you would like to do in life. This really motivates me to do my best in school. Therefore my goal is to get a great education while I pursue my basketball dreams. I am a natural-born leader, who looks out for my team and my friends. I have a big heart both off and on the court. In general, I am very curious, and that plays well with my creativity, I like to try new things and get new experiences. But the most prominent thing about me is that I fully commit to what I take on, and I won’t stop until the task is done or the goal has been achieved.