Edge Sign Kyle Johnson as IR Designate for Shaquille Keith
St. John’s, NL — The St. John’s Edge announced today that the team has signed Ajax, Ontario native Kyle Johnson as the IR Designate for Shaquille Keith.
Johnson, 6’5”, 210 lbs., is a product of Long Island University (NCAA D1). He is a veteran of professional basketball, spending time in several different leagues in Europe and North America since 2011-2012. His most recent stint in North America was with the London Lightning in 2017-18, where he helped lead them to an NBL Canada Championship.
In 2018-19, Johnson signed with SO Maritime Boulonge in the French NM1 League. In 20 games, Johnson averaged, 11.85 points and 2.70 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game. He shot 48.4% from the field (89-for-184), 38.8% from three-point range (31-for-80), and 75.7% from the charity stripe (28-for-37).
The St. John’s Edge are happy to welcome Kyle Johnson to the organization. Johnson is expected to dress for Game 1 of the Central Division Finals on Saturday at Mile One Centre.
UPDATE
This signing was due to an exemption provided by the NBL of Canada and its Board of Governors. The decision to allow the Edge to sign Johnson past the deadline and during the playoffs was due to the string of injuries and able bodied players that the Edge carried on the roster.
During the past 4 weeks the league has been monitoring the injury situation in St. John’s, routinely communicating with the Edge in regards to the potential exemption if required. The exemption itself was brough up as several Edge players suffered potentially season ending injuries, leaving them with a depleted roster
The injuries of the players are below:
Shaquille Keith (Broken Foot, Out For Season)
Dez Lee (Lower Body Injury, Day-to-Day)
Carl English (UCL Tear in Thumb)
Junior Cadougan (Lower Body Injury, Day-to-Day)
Murphy Burnatowski (Back, Day-to-Day)
In the case of Shaquille Keith, who Kyle Johnson is the designate for, he suffered a broken foot in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs. Rendering him unable to play for the remainder of the season. Dez Lee missed a crucial Game 3 with his injuries, also suffered another injury to his ankle in Game 4 and then was subject to playing in Game 5 with very little mobility and agonizing pain throughout. Carl English is at week 8 of his 10 week recovery and has just started to rehab and be re-evaluated by the medical team of the Edge. Junior Cadougan is awaiting results of an MRI on his injuries and also suffered a severe lower body injury in the last series of the season forcing him out of the final game against the Island Storm. Murphy Burnatowski is dealing with a back issue that required him to receive treatment and avoid practice for the few days leading up to Game's 3-4-5 of the first round series.
Also in this case, the injuries to Burnatowski, Cadougan, English, and Keith would cause the Edge to not meet the required number of Canadian players. Each team is required to have 5 active Canadian players on their roster. At any one time, the Edge may have as little as 3 on the active roster if the injuries to Cadougan and Burnatowski keep them out of action. With them on the active roster and not dressing the team would have just 9 players available to play.
Tickets are now on sale for Games 1 and 2 of the Central Division Finals. Get yours now by calling 576-7657 or online at www.mileonecentre.com.
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