University of Minnesota Athletics
All Access Gophers: A Week with Damian Johnson
12/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Zach Eisendrath
On the court, Damian Johnson electrifies Maroon and Gold fans with his ability to fill up the stat sheet. With stifling defense and array of offensive moves, the Thibodaux, La. native is arguably the Gophers' most gifted all-around player.
Last season, Johnson led the Gophers in blocks and finished second on the team in steals and rebounds. A hand injury sidelined Johnson for the first three weeks of the season, but since making his season debut at Colorado State on Nov. 22, the versatile forward hasn’t missed a beat.
But there is much more to the redshirt junior than his court skills.
Johnson, who gave himself the self-proclaimed nickname “V.I.P Johnson” last year on the Big Ten Network’s season-long documentary of the Gophers, is just as entertaining to follow off the court as he is on the hardwood.
Accordingly, we spent a week with Johnson to get an idea of what it is like to be a “very important person.”
“Its self explanatory,” Johnson says of his nickname. “I'm just a fun guy to be around at all times.”
Thursday Dec. 4 - 5:30 p.m.
In Tuesday’s win over Virginia, Johnson propelled the Gophers to their first victory in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge since the 2002-03 season. In 33 minutes of action, Johnson scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and chipped in three assists, three blocks and three steals.
Because of his stellar play, Johnson’s name made national headlines in the press after the game ... but with a common spelling error “Damien” Johnson.
Johnson takes this time to callout the error.
“It must be a common spelling error. I notice that all the time. I’m just trying to figure it out myself. I don’t know why that is,” Johnson says. “I’m not too high on that.”
6:00 p.m.
Johnson and a few of his teammates are set for dinner. Alongside freshman point guard Devoe Joseph and sophomore point guard Al Nolen, Johnson ventures out of his apartment, Yudof Hall, and heads to the Centennial dorm a few miles down the road - to eat at the building’s cafeteria.
Not high on the food at Centennial and with an unlimited meal plan the three leave Centennial and meet up with sophomore forward Paul Carter and freshman center Ralph Sampson III and eat another meal at Stanford dorm, generally known as the best University Dinning Service food on campus.
7:00 p.m.
Back at his apartment, Johnson, his teammates and Gopher football player Dominic Alford, are looking to relax. They settle on watching a movie; the comedy Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
10:00 p.m.
After more than a couple laughs, the group of student-athletes venture out to Santana’s for their third meal in a five hour span. Johnson, who loves to eat but appears to never gain weight, ends his night by ordering a nine piece drumstick set, a cheeseburger and an order of fries.
“That’s my typical order,” Johnson says.
Friday Dec. 5 - 12:05p.m.
Johnson plans to graduate this spring with a Communications degree. But first, he needs to fulfill his foreign-language requirement. To do so, he is enrolled in Spanish 1003, a five-day, five-credit commitment.
Between practice, games and homework, it’s been a grinding week for Johnson, but with his 50 minute class at Folwell Hall now over, he can rest up ... for awhile anyway.
His apartment is a 10-minute walk away, but Johnson elected to drive to class today. Come winter, Johnson drives pretty much everywhere, saying his range of walking around campus comes to an end after “about a block.”
Today Johnson parked in a close-by Dinkytown parking lot. Immediately, Johnson runs into a problem: He can’t find his parking ticket. Usually that means a $15 charge, but the parking attendant apparently in a forgiving state during the holiday season - gives Johnson a break and charges him the normal rate for an hour in the lot.
Johnson drives a red 2005 Ford Explorer around town, a gift upon high school graduation. Johnson says he used to have a nickname for the car, “red beautiful,” but that it isn’t as becoming anymore after not having a carwash since August.
“I just hope it doesn’t change colors,” Johnson says.
Driving through campus on the way back to his apartment, Johnson vents on what he feels is the biggest problem on the U of M campus.
“The number one problem on this campus is people on bikes thinking they own the road,” he says.
12:30
After finally finding a parking spot at the parking lot neighboring his apartment, Johnson returns home to take a quick nap before attending a study hall session.
Glance at the door to Johnson’s apartment and you’ll get an idea about his personality. Usually on the front of each door of the apartment is a sign with the names of the roommates that occupy the space. Johnson’s apartment is different.
Above his door reads a gold sign: “13 Dan Coleman.”
“You have to pay tribute to the greats,” Johnson says.
Inside Johnson’s room resides a plethora of symbols for who he is.
A Scarface poster of Al Pacino hanging right besides his door states one of his life slogans: “I always tell the truth even when I lie.”
Other wall hangings also represent Johnson, one piece of paper in particular. Johnson has his short-term (Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year) and long-term (play professionally) goals taped to his wall to stay focused.
In the neighboring room of the apartment, roommate and teammate Al Nolen is playing a video game on Xbox 360. Johnson takes this opportunity to call out all his teammates at the Roy Wilkins apartment complex in Dinkytown.
“Yudof is where the real gamers are at,” Johnson says.”Those guys at Wilkins are just pretenders.”
Johnson and Nolen keep track of their records when playing Madden 09 against one another. Right now, Johnson who typically plays with the Jacksonville Jaguars of all teams slightly trails Nolen in their competition.
Despite the two being fairly even at the game, Nolen takes a cheap shot at Johnson’s video game abilities.
“To be real, I’m way better than him,” Nolen says.
Saturday Dec. 6 - 11:40 a.m.
It’s Game Day at Williams Arena. It’s over an hour until Minnesota takes on Cornell but Johnson is already on the court, partaking in a pregame ritual. When Johnson broke his hand in a preseason practice student manager Ryan Wieland began tying his shoes for him before games.
With the Gophers entering the day undefeated, Johnson and Wieland apparently both superstitious - decide to continue the ritual.
The Gophers, down by 12-points at the half, outscore the Big Red 43-14 in the second half, on their way to a blowout victory. After overcoming foul trouble, Johnson finishes the day with 11 points, four assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal in only 19 minutes of action.
5 p.m.
After the come-from-behind win, Johnson and a group of friends go to Applebee’s to celebrate teammate Kevin Payton’s birthday, which is tomorrow. If you want to know where to catch Johnson after a Gopher game, just head to Applebee’s. After each game the junior forward orders a chicken quesadilla.
7 p.m.
Following the early dinner, Johnson watches the SEC championship game between Florida and Alabama. A huge fan of defending National Champion LSU, Johnson could care less who wins the game.
“I hate both teams,” he says of the Gators and the Crimson Tide.
Sunday Dec. 7 - 1:00 p.m.
With the day off from practice, Johnson enjoys the rare opportunity to sleep in. Hungry upon waking up and in search of place that still offers breakfast in the afternoon, Johnson, Payton and Alford head to Perkins for a late breakfast.
2 p.m.
Following breakfast, Johnson heads to the University Recreation Center for a new experience: His first time in a steam room. Johnson, who likes to build up an occasional sweat in a sauna, enjoys the relaxing experience.
“It was cool. It was a different experience,” Johnson says. “I couldn’t breathe.”
Next, Johnson heads to Williams Arena where, thanks to DirecTV, he is able to watch his hometown New Orleans Saints take on the Atlanta Falcons.
The Saints, down three midway through the fourth quarter, rally for the win after a big day from second-year running back Pierre Thomas.
Johnson is optimistic the win will propel the Saints into the playoffs.
“The Saints are playoff bound,” he says.
Monday Dec. 8 - 11:10 a.m.
After completing an early morning practice session custom for the Gophers throughout the season - Johnson heads to Spanish for his final oral exam of the semester.
For the exam, Johnson pretends he is a reporter for the Star Tribune who is interviewing Ricky Martin (his teacher) about his career.
Johnson, whose favorite musicians include Lil Wayne and Young Jeezy, knows very little about the Puerto Rican pop singer.
“I don’t know anything about Ricky Martin,” Johnson confesses. “But I think (the exam) went well.”
Tuesday Dec. 9 - 9:35 a.m.
After practice, Johnson is in the midst of shooting free throws in front of assistant coach Saul Smith and graduate assistant Ryan Saunders until he is pulled away by the Sports Information Director to speak with a group of assembled media members.
Asked if he’s concerned whether the Gophers will overlook tomorrow’s opponent, South Dakota State, with a matchup with ninth-ranked Louisville looming on the schedule, doesn’t think so. Johnson admits there are a lot of distractions this time of year - final exams being one of them but he thinks the team, well aware of how tough SDSU played them last season, will be ready for the Jackrabbits.
“I think we definitely need to take them seriously,” Johnson says.
1 p.m.
Johnson gets a haircut from his regular barber at “World Class Barber Shop.”
For $14 plus tip, Johnson says the service at the barber shop lives up to its name.
“It’s world class,” he says.
Wednesday. Dec. 10 10 p.m.
Led by a career-high 21 points, six rebounds and five blocks from Johnson, the Gophers stayed undefeated with a 74-60 win over South Dakota State at Williams Arena.
Johnson, who shoots 10-of-15 from the field, grabs four offensive rebounds and adds a steal in 31 minutes of work. Minnesota wins the game, but Johnson isn’t too thrilled that the Gophers allowed the Jackrabbits to dwindle a 19-point advantage down to five.
“We didn’t play the whole game as we should have, but we got the W,’” Johnson says.
After the game, coach Tubby Smith praises Johnson’s play on both ends of the court.
“I thought Damian came to the rescue offensively. We know what he does defensively," Smith said. “He did some great things.”
Thursday Dec. 11 - 5 p.m.
Johnson may have slept longer than any other student on campus today. A man who usually wakes up at around 6 a.m. for morning practice, sleeps until 4 p.m. following one of the best games of his career.
Still with work to do on his day off, Johnson heads to study hall at the Bierman Athletic Complex to put the finishing touches on his final paper for Spanish.
Johnson admits the class is time consuming, but he is pleased to be on pace to successfully fill his foreign language requirement.
“It’s a lot of work but that’s a good B-plus,” Johnson says.
8:30 p.m.
In the midst of watching college basketball, Johnson realizes his beloved Saints are playing the Chicago Bears in a pivotal NFC matchup with playoff implications.
One problem: the game is on the NFL Network, a channel nearly impossible to find on any cable provider in the area.
Luckily for Johnson, he has a backup plan: his phone.
No, he isn’t getting text updates or tracking stats online with his Sprint Nextel phone. No, much better than that. With the wonders of technology his sprint plan he can watch TV right on his phone and the NFL Network is one of 30 channels he gets.
10 p.m.
Maybe it would have been better for Johnson not to have watched the end of the game on this night, though.
The Saints take the lead late in regulation only to fall in overtime in part because of a questionable call. The Bears win the overtime coin toss and moments later Saints safety Roman Harper is flagged for defensive pass interference on a deep throw from Chicago quarterback Kyle Orton intended for wide receiver Devin Hester.
Johnson, like many who saw the reply of the play, can’t believe the call.
“That was a terrible call,” Johnson says.
Did the defender even touch Hester?
“Not at all.”
The loss, in effect, knocks the Saints out of the playoffs, but the light-hearted Johnson isn’t about to sulk.
With first semester soon coming to an end, Johnson makes sure to capitalize on his free-time during the week by spending it with his friends.
Johnson, who’s company is hard not to enjoy, has plenty of friends (788 on Facebook) and wouldn’t object to adding more.
“I’m always looking for more friends,” Johnson says. “Friends (are) better than enemies.”
