Imani Christian HC LaRoi Johnson Builds Winning Culture, Increased Recruiting Recognition for Players

Imani Christian Academy is a program with the caliber of players that bring in college coaches from across the country, hoping to land some of the best players in the WPIAL.

Much of this is thanks to head coach LaRoi Johnson, who has built a winning culture in a short amount of time, taking over prior to the 2022 season. Imani finished 4-6 in its first season, they had an 8-4 overall record last season, including 5-2 in the WPIAL Class 2A Allegheny Conference. This included a six-game winning streak from the end of September to the beginning of October, after starting 2-3 overall, where they outscored their opponents 268-49 and didn’t let an opponent score more than 14 points.

Imani made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2018, as their combined record the three seasons prior to Johnson was 4-21 overall.

Johnson gives credit to not just the work his players have put in, but the discipline they showed and their growth off the field.

“I think it’s just focus,” Johnson said. “I think it’s just a sharper focus. Every year, just with this year, there was a lot sharper of a focus. This year, even when we lift weights, there’s a lot sharper of a focus. There’s not as much playing around, there’s not as much giggling. There’s more pushing each other, trying to get better every day. I think that that’s probably what I’ve noticed the most. Everything is competitive with us. We compete in everything we do, and I can see them grasping that every single day now. The competition theory, competing for everything and that is something that I can say I’ve noticed the most. How serious we’ve started to take lifting. Just everything we do; we’re taking it just that much more serious.”

The improvement in wins has come with some great players that have made a big difference for the program, which in turn, has seen programs from across the country come in to recruit Imani student-athletes. The likes of Stanford, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Kentucky, WVU, Marshall, Akron, Eastern Michigan. Ohio State, Virginia, Temple and others have come to the school located in the East Hills neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh. 

“It’s good,” Johnson said on the recent attention on his athletes. “I think that when, you know, I think you’re definitely always happy about it, but you want your kids just to understand that it’s a lot of hard work for you to get to this point. You’re definitely happy about it, you just want the work to continue. You don’t want no one to think that the work stops. You just got to keep working. When you’re doing good things, good things happen. So, you just want the kids to continue to work and don’t worry about all the other stuff. You just keep working and doing what you’re doing, and things will work out.”

One photo that drew attention across Twitter came when both Pitt and Penn State visited Imani on the same day. Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge and safeties coach Cory Sanders and Penn State associate head coach, defensive recruiting coordinator and cornerbacks coach Terry M. Smith, plus defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Tom Allen all took a picture together with Johnson and Imani head of school Paulo Nzambi.

Pitt and Penn State recruiting Imani Christian fairly hard 👀

They are loaded with P5 talent pic.twitter.com/uD1rqnpaTy

— WPIAL Insider (@WPIAL_Insider) January 13, 2024

While some might say it’s an awkward moment with two rival schools competing for players at the same high school, Johnson appreciated their visit and what it means for his players and their future.

“It was great,” Johnson said. “It was great to have both schools in. It was a great atmosphere for them to be in. The same thing. You’re thankful, I’m thankful for it and happy for all of our young men because it just shines a light on a small place that deserves to have the light shined on it a little bit. So, for me, that’s all that that means. I want people to see the great school that we are and that’s why I said it was a great atmosphere for it.”

One player that has excelled for Imani and led to numerous schools coming in for his services is Class of 2025 linebacker Dayshaun Burnett.

Burnett holds a four-star ranking from 247Sports, Rivals and On3, who all rank the 6-foot-4, 220-pound linebacker as one of the best at his position and in the state of Pennsylvania.

He had an unofficial top three schools list in September, which included Pitt, Penn State and Rutgers, which expanded to two more schools in Kentucky and West Virginia when he released his top five programs in December.

“He has the ability to take over games,” Johnson said on his star linebacker. “He’s a dynamic athlete. He can do so much on the football field, but we just want him to grow into the game and continue to just grow and not limit himself on anything he can do, and we won’t do that either. He’ll do a lot this year and he’ll show even more ability. Just his experience now as a senior, I think it’s all going to come to a head for him and his best ball will be ahead of him, but he’ll have an outstanding year and lead us in all the ways he can. Definitely just proud of how much he’s grown just in the years. I remember when I first seen him and just now, where we’re at and understanding of the game, all of it is improved.”

Shady Side Academy transfer and Class of 2027 athlete Carter Bonner will provide help for Johnson and the Saints next season. He demonstrated his athleticism and skills on both sides of the ball at wide receiver and defensive back, as a freshman last season and will surely earn many more offers in the future.

Bonner first received offers from Pitt, UNLV and Penn State and other schools like Michigan State, Akron, Troy, UConn and West Virginia have offered him in January. 

“I think he’s an outstanding kid,” Johnson said. “He’s been great just in the classroom and just watching him interact with the kids in the school. Just seeing him grow and grow every day that he’s been there, and I just think the world of him. Just in who he is as a person, as a young man. Forget all the other stuff, I’m just happy he’s just a very good person with an outstanding family.”

Two more players that will star next season for Imani are Class of 2026 defensive back/running back David Davis and Class of 2027 athlete Gabriel Jenkins.

Davis holds offers from the usual Pitt, Penn State, WVU, along with Kentucky, Michigan State, Tennessee and MAC schools in Akron, Kent State and Toledo. Jenkins also holds offers from Pitt Penn State, WVU, Akron, Kentucky and Michigan State, but also received one from UCF, taking a visit last weekend.

The two didn’t play much together last season, since Davis suffered an injury that sidelined for a good part of the season. Johnson can’t wait for the upcoming season, when hopefully, his star players will come ready to go, healthy and dominating on the field.

“For us, we think about the potential of what happens if they play together with DayShaun and a few other young men we have in the program,” Johnson said. “We just think about if we all could just be on the field together and have the opportunities to play the games together cause then we can really see how good we possibly could be. We don’t make any excuses, but not being able to have David last year was a tremendous blow, but not having David, helps a guy like Gabe emerge and become the man he’s starting to become. You take the good with the bad, you try to smile through it all. Luckily, we’re young and I look forward to the challenges of developing young men and trying to see how far we can go.”

Class of 2026 outside linebacker, defensive end and tight end Will Ki Gorman is one player to watch out for these next two seasons as someone who has the chance to break out and feature as one of the better players in the region.

He recently received offers from Akron and Troy, after visiting there this weekend. He also made visits to Pitt, WVU and Kent State this past fall.

“Will is an explosive, big play athlete,” Johnson said. “He can do a lot of different things. He can rush the passer from multiple different spots. He can line up as an outside nine-technique and play wide and rush you. He can line up tight and play seven. He can lineup in a five-tech. He can do a lot of different things up and down the line, as far as a defensive lineman. Just last year, I think he came on real strong towards the end and was really able to put some multiple sack games together. A lot of pressure.

Thanks for watching my 2023 Sophomore Full Season Highlights. Looking forward to working hard this off-season with @Chise89 , @ImaniCAFootball , @210ths , @ByrdSportsPF @NextLevelAtFit . 6ft,2 / 210 lb / age: 15 / 4.0 GPA….@CoachTerryPSU @PA_TodaySports @CoachArchieC… pic.twitter.com/paPrsj7Nmy

— Will KI Gorman (@willkigorman) November 19, 2023

He came along as the year went along and I just think the world of him. He has tremendous talent, but he has, Imma say this, he has “sky’s the limit” talent as far as how far his flexibility on the defensive line can go and he’s an outstanding blocker when we put him at tight end. So, I look forward to seeing how far his game can grow, inside of his game.”

Johnson loves all the attention his players have gotten so far, but he just hopes they stay focused and full see the potential that they all have to become great, not just in football, but in life too.

“That’s one of the most important things I try to tell all my young men all the time, is just, you have to worry about your game and put blinders on and run your race,” Johnson said.  “So, I look forward to seeing his growth as well as all the young men that are in our program.”