A’s Player of the Month: Las Vegas High’s Sariyah Johnson

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The first time Sariyah Johnson met her basketball coach at Las Vegas High, the eighth grader started to cry.

Johnson’s emotions were part nerves in speaking with La Shondra Rayford, the Wildcats’ longtime coach, and part excitement at knowing she would soon be suiting up for the neighborhood school.

Two years later, those immature tendencies are mostly a thing of the past. Johnson, just a sophomore, is the Wildcats’ unquestioned leader.

And like all leaders, her actions are speaking louder than words.

Johnson’s rebounding feats are so impressive — she’s averaging 24 rebounds per game over Las Vegas’ first five contests — that Rayford has been asked if it was a data-entry error when stats into MaxPreps.

“She’s just gotten mentally tougher, mentally stronger, and as a sophomore, she’s actually one of the leaders on the team, which is crazy. Sophomore as a team leader,” Rayford said.

Last season, with a young roster struggling to a 5-20 record, the freshman Johnson still managed to average a state-best 16.6 rebounds per game — a figure that ranked in the top 10 nationally.

This year, her dominance has only intensified. Rayford estimates that Johnson pulls down roughly 90% of the Wildcats’ rebounds.

“I play with a lot of dedication,” Johnson said. “When you see me play, you’d think, ‘Wow, she’s committed.’”

Johnson also averages a team-high 13 points per game, though Rayford believes her stat line could easily balloon to more than 20 points and 20 rebounds nightly.

Like all underclassmen playing varsity, Johnson is developing her skillset while competing against older players. Some nights, she’s the best player on the court, especially when it comes to rebounding and protecting the rim on defense.

Other nights, her offensive game shows its youth — her free throw shooting and work around the basket still need refinement.

“It’s always progressing,” Johnson said. “I’ve been working on my layups and my form in shooting free throws.”

Johnson, at 6 feet, is the tallest player on the roster. When she started playing organized basketball, the tallest player was assigned to the post — a role she embraced. She loves maneuvering for rebounds in the interior and anticipating where the ball will carom off the rim.

While her size presents a problem for opponents, it also creates one small problem for her team: there’s nobody to match up against her in practice. So Rayford and Johnson have spent plenty of time going head-to-head.

“The biggest person on the team, they just put you down there,” Rayford said. “That became her job — go get rebounds. So I am sure that was instilled in here. But one thing we tried to teach her is to be a little more aggressive going for it and making sure she secures the ball.”

Johnson doesn’t keep a running tally of rebounds as the game progresses. She lets her mom handle that from the bleachers.

Rayford is quick to share stats after a strong performance. “They should be proud of how they are playing,” she says.

Rayford has been at the school since the early 2010s, leading the Wildcats in 2023 to their first state championship since 1978. Two players from that team went on to play collegiately, and the coach believes she has another college prospect in Johnson.

That path starts with her growth — mentally and on the court.

“I used to get so frustrated (with a bad play or call) that I couldn’t focus on the game and wasn’t helping my team,” Johnson said. “Now, I’ve changed because I want to see my team less frustrated and focused on winning.”