To honor the life and legacy of Brent "BJ" Johnson by providing mentoring, training, and other supportive services to students and elite athletes across the globe.
Sheffery Brent Johnson, known to the basketball world as “BJ”, but to his family in Harrisonburg Va. they called him Brent. The Middle child of 8 kids, all of whom were athletes. BJ’s love for basketball began at an early age and the desire, dedication and love for the game led him to receive a scholarship at East Tennessee State. He put in hours and hours of countless physical training, playing, and developing his skills at a game that he loved so much, and would later use in teaching and mentoring to others. BJ traveled the world playing with Meadowlark Lemon and later played with several leagues in South America and Mexico.
BJ joined the Houston Rockets during the 1994-95 Championship season as a Personnel Scout. He stayed and worked with the Rockets organization for 26 years. His dedication and commitment to the Team was astounding.
BJ was asked to participate in Basketball Without Borders Africa (BWB)in the beginning of the program. He would travel to the Continent each year of his life from then on (16) years without wavering. His dedication to the kids each year, to the program, to the mentoring, the coaching, the skills training, was inevitable. BWB offers the visibility to those kids that are talented, gifted and blessed the opportunity to be chosen and then offered scholarships to colleges and universities here in the states. That’s just the beginning. They then cross that ocean and land on grounds that few of them have ever touched.
The struggle then begins for most trying to navigate the culture of School, classes, language barrier, training and just every day to day living in a new country. BJ’s phone would always ring with a voice on the other side saying “Coach” can you, would you, will you, and he(we) did. We tried to help in whatever way we could.
The BBJJ Foundation is here to help, with building a network in states across the US that students and, athletes, can reach out to in time of need. We want families, individuals that can help with groceries, conversation, mentoring, training just daily needs that each child may not know how to find. Things that the colleges or universities may not be providing, or they are just more comfortable with asking family member which our mission is to become “that family”.
