University of Minnesota Athletics
Game Changer: Freshman Damian Johnson
12/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Redshirt freshman Damian Johnson may not have any glowing statistics this season. But his efforts will not go unnoticed by Golden Gopher fans, his coaches or teammates.
The 6’7” forward is a player set out to do all the “little things” to help Minnesota basketball succeed. And Johnson is fine if that doesn’t always include scoring. He knows that much of what he accomplishes won’t show up in a game boxscore.
“My role is to come in, hustle, give my all, scrap, play defense, rebound and play hard for as much time as I’m needed,” Johnson said.
A year ago, Johnson may have not been ready for that kind of role.
As a true freshman last season, Johnson would have played if he was needed. But with a core of veterans ahead of him, minutes would likely have been scarce. Therefore, Johnson and the Minnesota coaching staff agreed that redshirting in 2005-06 would be the best option.
Johnson said it was the right decision for the situation he was in, and it gave him the opportunity to make some needed changes. He liked that he got to learn from some of his mistakes off the court instead of in games. He also added 30 pounds of muscle to his lean frame.
“(Redshirting) helped me to see a lot and learn a lot,” Johnson said. “There were a lot of things that coming out of high school, I wasn’t prepared for. I didn’t waste a year playing where I had to learn too. I think that helped me. I’m still a freshman, but I got to see a whole year where I learned things that a true freshman wouldn’t have understood until the end of the season.”
“He gained a lot of confidence over the summer which had a lot to do with his added strength and increased work ethic,” assistant coach Jim Molinari said. “If he continues to work hard and mature physically and emotionally, he will have a very productive career here, no doubt.”
Johnson also said he needed to better prepare mentally for the intensity of Division I basketball and playing in the Big Ten conference.
“Last year I had to grow up a lot,” he said. “I wasn’t as mature. Sometimes I clowned around, didn’t take practice seriously. Now I’ve improved on all of that.”
As a result of his year of experience with Minnesota basketball, the expectations are now much higher for Johnson. He is a freshman, but he isn’t supposed to act or play like one.
“The coaches know that I’m a freshman eligibility-wise, but they don’t treat me like a true freshman,” Johnson said. “They always say, ‘You’ve been here a year, you should know better than that,’ when I do something wrong. I know I’m supposed to act like a sophomore because I’ve been in the program a year.”
Through the next four years, the Gophers will use what Johnson considers the best part of his game – his athleticism – to the fullest.
“I run and jump pretty high,” Johnson said. “I keep moving and I’m very active on defense.”
Johnson said his role defensively is more to slow opponents down than actually stopping them. But so far, he has done a bit of both. Johnson currently leads the Gophers with eight blocked shots, four of which came in Minnesota’s victory over Long Island on Nov. 17.
“Damian is a unique athlete,” Jim Molinari said. “He is very long and he can disrupt an opposing team’s offense and change shots with his length.
And although he has so far been primarily used as a forward, Johnson can play guard as well. His versatility is much of what has helped him stand out as a basketball player while growing up in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
“I’ve been playing a lot of different positions since I was young,” Johnson said. “When I was eight, I was a center because I was the tallest player. But when I was nine I was a point guard because I was the best ball handler. I’m used to it.
“That’s one of the reasons Coach Molinari recruited me. At the AAU National Tournament he saw me playing point guard, guarding the big men. I was doing a lot of things.”
Johnson said he feels lucky to have teammates in his recruiting class, like Brandon Smith and Kevin Payton, who have similar all-around skills. It gives the potential for a lot of success in the next few years of Minnesota basketball.
“It’s great, the quickness of our team and also our depth,” Johnson said. “We’ve got so many different people with the same qualities of being athletic and quick and being able to play different positions. That really helps the team out.”
Johnson said himself, Smith, Payton and Lawrence McKenzie bonded last season when all four were sitting out. Although it was hard watching their teammates struggling at times, it also got them excited for the future.
“It was rough because the season wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be,” Johnson said. “That made it hard not playing and not being a part of it, because you never know what could have happened if we did play. I wanted the guys – they were all my teammates and my friends – to have a good season last year. I’m kind of upset they went out like that.”
With no seniors on this year’s roster, Johnson knows he’ll have the same teammates next year – a luxury that the Gophers will try to use to their advantage.
“We have a chance to have two years, three years with the same people together. We can build off that. Usually when you have the same team together for so long you have good chemistry. We all get along pretty well. It’s nice to be able to play with people who you get along with two years in a row.”
But Johnson has his expectations for this year’s team already set.
“I just want our team to win,” he said. “I want to go to the NCAA Tournament and win in the Big Ten. I don’t have any personal goals. We want to win some games on TV and establish ourselves as a program on the rise.”
story by Emily Wickstrom, athletic communications student assistant
