Surprise Raptors hoopster shows up at Thornhill high school

Vaughan Secondary gym coach Tweets about Johnson

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 8, 2015
By Michael Hayakawa

Vaughan Secondary School is not adverse to opening the doors to its gymnasium to allow residents in the community to play a little pick-up basketball.

On one such recent occasion, the Thornhill-based school had an unexpected guest drop in to shoot some hoops - in Toronto Raptors’ forward James Johnson.

Gus Gymnopoulos, Vaughan Secondary School physical education teacher and head coach of the Voyageurs senior boys’ basketball team, noted on his Twitter account that local players and the school’s basketball alumni know when the gymnasium is available and will drop in to play.

Getting wind of when such an availability arose, Johnson visited the court with a group of his friends for a couple of hours.

During his visit, Gymnopoulos was quick to note the six-foot, nine-inch Johnson was cordial and accommodating.

“He mostly kept to himself and his group and was nice about it,” Gymnopoulos said on his Twitter account. “I said ‘hello and thanks for coming’. It was great to have him here. It was really nothing special.”

Johnson wasn’t the only NBA player to have graced the Vaughan Secondary School court.

During his time as a student attending Vaughan Secondary School, Minnesota Timberwolves guard-forward Andrew Wiggins was a member of the Voyageurs’ senior boys’ team that captured the 2011 York Region Athletic Association and Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations AAAA titles.

In addition to those two current NBA players, Gymnopoulos was quick to point out their gym has played host a number of players who are currently attending National Collegiate Athletic Association division one programs this past spring when they opened their gymnasium for open runs.