Johnson was a well-known American basketball player during the 1930s. The Oklahoma City native attended the University of Kansas (1929-33), where he was a three-year letter winner under coach Phog Allen. He was named First-Team Big Six Conference twice (1932, 1933) as well as Second-Team Big Six Conference (1931) once. On May 2, 1977, Johnson was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.