Spokane Stars Basketball

Archive for June, 2007

Sam Noffs asked:




Johnny Flynn is a basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA that many experts believe has a tremendous amount of potential in the game of basketball due in large part to his exceptional athletic ability and his high basketball IQ. Even before being drafted by the team in the cold weather city of Minneapolis, MN Johnny Flynn grew accustomed to bitter cold winters as a native of upstate New York.

Born in Niagara Falls in 1989 the young Flynn showed basketball promise from an early age as a standout guard for the Niagara Falls High School hoops squad. As a sophomore on a talented roster Johnny led his team to the state of New York public high schools basketball championship, an impressive feat by any measure. As a six foot tall player (short by basketball standards) Johnny has never had the benefit of relying on his height and has instead had to learn how to overcompensate with exceptional skills, particularly in the realms of scoring and passing. Before becoming an impact player with Syracuse University (SU) Flynn was considered one of the top 25 high school basketball players in the country and was fittingly named to the illustrious McDonald’s All-American team in 2007.

Flynn played for two seasons at nearby Syracuse University (160 miles east of his hometown) before moving on to a lucrative professional career that currently pays him an annual salary of close to $3 million. The impact Johnny made at SU was immediate has he scored an impressive 28 points in his college debut, a statistic that bettered the previous school record established a few years earlier by current NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Although it was a productive freshmen season from a growth perspective after only winning co-Big East Rookie of the Year Johnny decided to return for another year of college to further hone his skills before testing the waters in the NBA.

As expected Flynn had a measurably improved sophomore showing where he was named a tournament MVP on multiple occasions (the CBE Classic and Big East Tournament) and led his school to its first Sweet 16 appearance in five years. The extra time that Johnny spent with the Syracuse Orange basketball team proved to be well worth it as his NBA draft stock climbed considerably. Eventually on June 25, 2009 Johnny Flynn was picked with the sixth overall selection, a spot higher in the draft order than even many of his proponents had predicted.