STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Former Hutchinson Community College men's basketball All-American Darius Johnson-Odom was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2020 TBT Tournament on Tuesday night.
Johnson-Odom led the Golden Eagles, a collection of Marquette University alumni, to a 78-73 victory over Sideline Cancer in the $1 million winner-take-all championship game played Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
The Golden Eagles went 4-0 in the tournament, which was limited to 24 teams instead of the usual 64 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Johnson-Odom had 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting and three assists in the championship game. DJO averaged 16.8 points, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals in for tournament games.
The Golden Eagles were the 2019 TBT runner-up.
Back in the 2008-09 season, DJO's only season at Hutchinson, he became the sixth Blue Dragon in history to earn first-team NJCAA All-America honors. Johnson-Odom was also named first-team All-Jayhawk West and first-team All-Region VI. Johnson-Odom was also named 2009 Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year. Johnson-Odom also earned a spot on the 2009 Region VI Tournament All-Tournament team.
Johnson-Odom put together one of the most impressive single seasons in 2008-09.
He finished with 692 total points and a 21.6 point-per-game scoring average, which led Region VI and ranked 14th in the NJCAA. The 692 points was ninth most in HutchCC single-season history and second-most on the Blue Dragon freshman list. His scoring average ranked ninth in the single-season and third on the freshman list.
Johnson-Odom shot 47.9 percent overall from the field, including 38.8 percent from 3-point range. He was a 77 percent free-throw shooter. Johnson-Odom averaged 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.5 blocked shots per game.
Johnson-Odom set a freshman record for free throws (191).
He had 22 games of 20 or more points, four of 30 or more points and a school-record 46 points against Coffeyville on Dec. 5, 2008 at the Jayhawk Shootout. In that game, he also established a single-game record with eight 3-point goals.
After Hutchinson, Johnson-Odom spent three seasons at Marquette University, where he was a 2012 all-Big East first-team performer. DJO was then selected 55th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, who immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. Johnson-Odom was assigned to the Lakers' D-League team, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, several times during 2012–13 season.
Since that time, Johnson-Odom has signed contracts with the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves, but never played in a regular season contest for those franchises. DJO has been with G-League teams, the Springfield Armor and Iowa Wolves and has played internationally in Russia, China, Greece, Turkey and Italy.
He is currently signed with an Italian team, Pallacanestro Reggiana.