University of Minnesota Athletics
Just Watch Him Play; Junior Ben Johnson
2/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Ever since he started playing basketball, Johnson has taken pressure situations and handled them with the greatest of ease. He has embraced the pressures placed upon him, which is evident in the fact that he won back-to-back state championships in high school and has started nearly every game of his collegiate career. Through all of that, anyone will tell you that he has never let the emotion or pressure get to him, regardless of starting as a freshman on the varsity team in high school or starting every game as a true freshman at Northwestern.
"He's a talented, intelligent, outstanding kid who has incredible leadership skills," Johnson's father, Hal, stated. "I think, honestly, he handles pressure better than anyone I know personally and professionally. It just amazes me how he is able to handle the pressures he has faced over the years."
"He's a very disciplined person," Johnson's mother, Katie commented. "He has the calm and collected temperament that makes him able to handle the pressures of playing at this level. He's very steady and controlled on and off the court."
"Ben has a tremendous amount of poise when it comes to basketball, he has been in so many pressure situations and made the right decisions, for example, seven game winning shots in his high school career," high school coach, Dave Thorson said. "I believe he has an innate sense of confidence in executing whatever action is necessary to win. That poise comes from his ability to not let emotional situations impact his actions. He is very levelheaded, calm, cool, collected and very confident. Opponents never see Ben get unraveled emotionally."
Johnson's ability to let pressure situations bypass him could be the very reason why so many have looked to him to assume the leadership role. Over the years, like pressure, he has taken to embracing the leadership role, making the most of it and using it to help the team produce wins.
"I think from my early childhood, ever since I've been playing basketball, coaches have always tried to put me in a leadership role," Ben commented. "It started in sixth grade and continued into high school, so it's something that I've become accustomed to handling and dealing with. A leadership role is something that I've come to expect when playing basketball."
"The thing about Ben is that if you have the confidence in him to achieve great things, he can deliver," Hal stated. "Two state championships and one state runner-up, shows that he knows how to work as a team. It shows that he demonstrates the skills and talent to help lead a team to success. I think it's all in the records that if you believe in him, and give him the confidence, he will deliver and be an outstanding leader."
"Ben leads by example, lets his actions speak for themselves and has always done what his team needed him to do to win, rather than ever placing his own individual goals ahead of team goals," Thorson explained. "He is the ultimate, consummate team player. Ben's teams win, pure and simple."
Watching Ben, you get the sense that all of it is so easy. But, it helps to have natural athleticism that enables you to grace courts throughout the country as though you own them. It helps to know exactly what you want, what you're looking for. And, it helps having a strong support system willing to assist you in getting what you want.
"My parents' support and them not pushing or pressuring me, has helped me because I see a lot of kids who get pressured from their parents or their coaches," Ben remarked. "And, then when they go home, they are around the game all the time, so, the pressure can get to be a lot and lead to burnout. Definitely, the best thing my parents did for me was to make sure that what I got out of sports was what I wanted out of it and not what they wanted. They knew it was my dream and have supported me in my pursuit of it."
"Honestly, I never thought he would play at this level," Katie recalled. "As a little kid, he always showed a natural athleticism. He could watch a sport and just go out and play it without being coached or taught. The prime example is that he actually played hockey for one year when he was younger and scored four goals in a 4-3 win. He just put the skates on and knew what he had to do. But, the reality of his potential to play basketball, at this level, came through when he started playing at DeLaSalle with coach Thorson. I never saw the possibility, but I'm sure Ben did. I'm amazed at what he has achieved."
"This is his dream, we are just spectators," Hal explained. "We have never pushed him or pressured him to play. It's what he loves to do and supporting him is what we have to do as parents. This is all him."
"The first time I saw Ben play was as an eighth grader on a traveling team," Thorson noted. "He was not regarded as the top player, but it was so obvious to me that he was a winner because he already played with poise, confidence and his effort was relentless compared to the others on the team. He came to my summer camp and he stood out as one who wanted to work on his individual skills as well. He was not looking for compliments, rather he was a sponge to find out what he could do to improve his skills."
What Johnson wants out of sports, out of basketball, is the very thing that drives him to keep playing. It's a dream and the one thing that he really knows. Basketball is Ben Johnson, and Ben Johnson is basketball. Every since he was a little kid, all he has done is play basketball. With his own goals and dreams in mind, he has not and probably never will let anything get in the way of those.
"He lives and breathes basketball," Katie proclaimed. "When he was younger he would play in traveling leagues with Adam (Boone), Troy (Bell), Shane (Schilling), and Nick (Horvath). They would play sometimes a four-game tournament during the day and at night they'd be playing pick-up games until they just couldn't anymore."
"The best situation for coaches is when your best player is your hardest worker and tough," Thorson explained. "No one was ever more competitive and tough in practice than Ben Johnson during his entire career at DeLaSalle. Even as a ninth grader starting on the varsity, he was not intimidated by the older, bigger kids. He made up for his inexperience with an unmatched effort and determination to improve all of his skills."
"The reality that one day you might be able to play in the NBA or even playing overseas, and the fact that this is something I've been doing my whole life really just keeps me going," Ben stated. "It's the one thing that has been consistent since I was a little kid. I mean I know things outside of basketball, but there aren't too many things that have been as consistent as basketball in my life. It's one of those things that I hope I can carry on."
One thing is certain about him and his basketball endeavors. You can just see it in the way he plays and presents himself to the crowd. He wants to be viewed as a good role model. He wants to give young athletes someone to aspire to become. He understands and accepts his role model status so much so that he frequently assists and speaks at basketball camps for Twin Cities youth.
"Ben is very humble in my opinion," Thorson remarked. "He cares about others, and understands that he is a role model to many young basketball players in the Twin Cities. He is a frequent speaker at basketball camps for young players, and always speaks to the important balance between academics and athletics, and how discipline and effort on the court also translates to academic disciple and effort in the classroom. Ben is a positive role model for young student athletes in word and deed."
"I think people see me as a homegrown kid, who has had some success," Ben said. "I think they see me as someone who treats people with a great deal of respect and just the way they deserve to be treated. I hope they see me as a competitive person and a responsible person. I hope they see me as someone who can be looked at as a role model for little kids who want to be successful in and outside of the classroom, and someday play basketball for their home state."
It's not about hoping that they see him that way, because, seriously, just watch him play and you can see all of that conveyed in his presentation, athleticism, attitude, effort and drive to success. Watch him. He'll never lose his cool. He'll never "showboat." He'll never hog the ball. Ben Johnson loves the game and everything that comes with it. Watch just him. You'll see that.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Rose Thompson Watch the Golden Gophers play but watch just Ben Johnson play. There's a difference between his style, personality and attitude that sets him apart from everyone else on the court. Johnson isn't about showboating. He isn't out there to make himself known. He doesn't go onto the court with that "one-man show" attitude. And it shows - in the way he handles pressure, the way he feels about the game, the way he embraces a leadership role, and the way he presents himself to the fans. Ben Johnson plays basketball because he truly loves the game and everything that surrounds it.
Ever since he started playing basketball, Johnson has taken pressure situations and handled them with the greatest of ease. He has embraced the pressures placed upon him, which is evident in the fact that he won back-to-back state championships in high school and has started nearly every game of his collegiate career. Through all of that, anyone will tell you that he has never let the emotion or pressure get to him, regardless of starting as a freshman on the varsity team in high school or starting every game as a true freshman at Northwestern.
"He's a talented, intelligent, outstanding kid who has incredible leadership skills," Johnson's father, Hal, stated. "I think, honestly, he handles pressure better than anyone I know personally and professionally. It just amazes me how he is able to handle the pressures he has faced over the years."
"He's a very disciplined person," Johnson's mother, Katie commented. "He has the calm and collected temperament that makes him able to handle the pressures of playing at this level. He's very steady and controlled on and off the court."
"Ben has a tremendous amount of poise when it comes to basketball, he has been in so many pressure situations and made the right decisions, for example, seven game winning shots in his high school career," high school coach, Dave Thorson said. "I believe he has an innate sense of confidence in executing whatever action is necessary to win. That poise comes from his ability to not let emotional situations impact his actions. He is very levelheaded, calm, cool, collected and very confident. Opponents never see Ben get unraveled emotionally."
Johnson's ability to let pressure situations bypass him could be the very reason why so many have looked to him to assume the leadership role. Over the years, like pressure, he has taken to embracing the leadership role, making the most of it and using it to help the team produce wins.
"I think from my early childhood, ever since I've been playing basketball, coaches have always tried to put me in a leadership role," Ben commented. "It started in sixth grade and continued into high school, so it's something that I've become accustomed to handling and dealing with. A leadership role is something that I've come to expect when playing basketball."
"The thing about Ben is that if you have the confidence in him to achieve great things, he can deliver," Hal stated. "Two state championships and one state runner-up, shows that he knows how to work as a team. It shows that he demonstrates the skills and talent to help lead a team to success. I think it's all in the records that if you believe in him, and give him the confidence, he will deliver and be an outstanding leader."
"Ben leads by example, lets his actions speak for themselves and has always done what his team needed him to do to win, rather than ever placing his own individual goals ahead of team goals," Thorson explained. "He is the ultimate, consummate team player. Ben's teams win, pure and simple."
Watching Ben, you get the sense that all of it is so easy. But, it helps to have natural athleticism that enables you to grace courts throughout the country as though you own them. It helps to know exactly what you want, what you're looking for. And, it helps having a strong support system willing to assist you in getting what you want.
"My parents' support and them not pushing or pressuring me, has helped me because I see a lot of kids who get pressured from their parents or their coaches," Ben remarked. "And, then when they go home, they are around the game all the time, so, the pressure can get to be a lot and lead to burnout. Definitely, the best thing my parents did for me was to make sure that what I got out of sports was what I wanted out of it and not what they wanted. They knew it was my dream and have supported me in my pursuit of it."
"Honestly, I never thought he would play at this level," Katie recalled. "As a little kid, he always showed a natural athleticism. He could watch a sport and just go out and play it without being coached or taught. The prime example is that he actually played hockey for one year when he was younger and scored four goals in a 4-3 win. He just put the skates on and knew what he had to do. But, the reality of his potential to play basketball, at this level, came through when he started playing at DeLaSalle with coach Thorson. I never saw the possibility, but I'm sure Ben did. I'm amazed at what he has achieved."
"This is his dream, we are just spectators," Hal explained. "We have never pushed him or pressured him to play. It's what he loves to do and supporting him is what we have to do as parents. This is all him."
"The first time I saw Ben play was as an eighth grader on a traveling team," Thorson noted. "He was not regarded as the top player, but it was so obvious to me that he was a winner because he already played with poise, confidence and his effort was relentless compared to the others on the team. He came to my summer camp and he stood out as one who wanted to work on his individual skills as well. He was not looking for compliments, rather he was a sponge to find out what he could do to improve his skills."
What Johnson wants out of sports, out of basketball, is the very thing that drives him to keep playing. It's a dream and the one thing that he really knows. Basketball is Ben Johnson, and Ben Johnson is basketball. Every since he was a little kid, all he has done is play basketball. With his own goals and dreams in mind, he has not and probably never will let anything get in the way of those.
"He lives and breathes basketball," Katie proclaimed. "When he was younger he would play in traveling leagues with Adam (Boone), Troy (Bell), Shane (Schilling), and Nick (Horvath). They would play sometimes a four-game tournament during the day and at night they'd be playing pick-up games until they just couldn't anymore."
"The best situation for coaches is when your best player is your hardest worker and tough," Thorson explained. "No one was ever more competitive and tough in practice than Ben Johnson during his entire career at DeLaSalle. Even as a ninth grader starting on the varsity, he was not intimidated by the older, bigger kids. He made up for his inexperience with an unmatched effort and determination to improve all of his skills."
"The reality that one day you might be able to play in the NBA or even playing overseas, and the fact that this is something I've been doing my whole life really just keeps me going," Ben stated. "It's the one thing that has been consistent since I was a little kid. I mean I know things outside of basketball, but there aren't too many things that have been as consistent as basketball in my life. It's one of those things that I hope I can carry on."
One thing is certain about him and his basketball endeavors. You can just see it in the way he plays and presents himself to the crowd. He wants to be viewed as a good role model. He wants to give young athletes someone to aspire to become. He understands and accepts his role model status so much so that he frequently assists and speaks at basketball camps for Twin Cities youth.
"Ben is very humble in my opinion," Thorson remarked. "He cares about others, and understands that he is a role model to many young basketball players in the Twin Cities. He is a frequent speaker at basketball camps for young players, and always speaks to the important balance between academics and athletics, and how discipline and effort on the court also translates to academic disciple and effort in the classroom. Ben is a positive role model for young student athletes in word and deed."
"I think people see me as a homegrown kid, who has had some success," Ben said. "I think they see me as someone who treats people with a great deal of respect and just the way they deserve to be treated. I hope they see me as a competitive person and a responsible person. I hope they see me as someone who can be looked at as a role model for little kids who want to be successful in and outside of the classroom, and someday play basketball for their home state."
It's not about hoping that they see him that way, because, seriously, just watch him play and you can see all of that conveyed in his presentation, athleticism, attitude, effort and drive to success. Watch him. He'll never lose his cool. He'll never "showboat." He'll never hog the ball. Ben Johnson loves the game and everything that comes with it. Watch just him. You'll see that.
Written by Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Rose Thompson
