John Tonje’s Basketball Journey Led Him From Wisconsin to the NBA

by Kaleab Afeworki, age 13

John Tonje is a basketball player who was named one of college basketball's underdogs. He has shown that he scores big and is a great passer, which led him to the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Utah Jazz.

John Tonje was born on April 23rd, 2001, to Jean and Sara Tonje. He was unlike most NBA players growing up; he did not live in a rough neighborhood or have any financial struggles. His dad played professional soccer in Cameroon, being on the Cameroon national team, and his mother currently works at a church as a pastor. John has two brothers, Malcolm and Texan; however, his brothers never liked basketball or had a passion for it. Tonje developed his love for the sport in elementary school and has since continued to play

In high school, Tonje did not get any D1 offers. He waited until late in his senior season to get a scholarship to Colorado State, a D1 school, where he studied business and real estate. For his first three seasons, he would come off the bench. He wanted to make a name for himself at Colorado State; however, a major injury kept him out for a whole season. For his senior year, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied sports leadership.

During his senior year, he accomplished many things – one of which was leading Wisconsin to the third seed in their division of the March Madness playoffs for college basketball. He has also reached the finals of the BIG 10 tournament, unfortunately losing to Michigan. He led the Badgers to the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, but they lost to Brigham Young University (BYU). That same year, he helped the Wisconsin Badgers achieve a 27-10 record.

John Tonje is one of the most underrated players of this year. He started with no D1 offers, then made it to the 2025 NBA Draft as the 53rd overall pick by the Utah Jazz.

[Source: collegefootballnetwork, badgernotes]