By Joshua Parrott, Sports Writer
Proclaim liberty throughout all the lands unto all the inhabitants thereof.
That message inscribed upon the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is a message of liberty and freedom, but for sophomore forward Jeff Johnson, his road to liberty and freedom actually led out of his hometown of Philadelphia to a small, West Texas town.
Johnson lived a rough life growing up in the city of brotherly love, getting in trouble and causing mischief as a youth, forcing his mother to make a tough decision as he prepared to enter high school.
“I started to get into some things my mom didn’t want for me to get involved in and so she decided it would be a good idea for me to move to Abilene and stay with my dad for a few years,” Johnson said.
So Johnson left for Abilene, where the small-town atmosphere and improved school system gave his mother the sense that a new location would straighten him out.
She was right.
Jeff moved in with his father, Jeff Johnson Sr., an ACU forward in the late 1970s and early ’80s under coaches Willard Tate and Mike Martin. Soon after the move the younger Johnson found refuge in basketball at Abilene High School.
Quick to distance himself from any comparisons to his father (despite both having been coached by Martin at ACU), the shy, well-spoken Johnson said the two never had a close relationship, even when they lived together.
And they’ve never been best friends.
“I’ve grown to accept him though,” Johnson said. “He’s my dad and I respect him.”
Johnson was overflowing with potential on the high school court, displaying the type of athleticism and leaping ability that usually warrants a college scholarship. Slowed by an injury that sidelined him for most of his junior season at AHS, Johnson was still unknown to major college basketball recruiters, even after he earned first team all-District honors as a senior, scoring 15 points per game and collecting eight rebounds a night for the 22-14 Eagles.
After graduating from AHS in 1999, Johnson arrived at ACU and redshirted as a true freshman because he would have earned little playing time on a roster full of returning players. He left ACU after the spring semester of 2000 because of academic concerns and didn’t return until the spring of the following year after a semester at Philadelphia Community College.
Two years away from organized basketball changed Johnson’s attitude in the classroom and gave him a chance to gain experience both athletically and academically.
“Being out of school for a semester gave me a chance to realize that what I needed to do was be in school, play basketball and get my degree,” Johnson said. “I matured a lot.”
As a redshirt freshman, Johnson started slowly, but upped his production as the season wore on.
After the men finished 7-19 in 2001-02, Martin resigned after a second stint as head coach and Klint Pleasant was brought in from Division I Kent State. Pleasant’s frenetic, up-tempo style of play is a system better suited to Johnson’s talents than Martin’s, but Pleasant isn’t afraid to be tough on Johnson.
“I’m on him every play of every game and practice,” Pleasant said. “I refuse to not let Jeff get the most of his ability.”
David Bacon, KTAB-TV sports director and play-by-play man for Wildcat basketball, has witnessed John-son’s growth firsthand, from his days as an Eagle at AHS to his time as a Wildcat at ACU and believes that Johnson has just scratched the surface of his basketball skills.
“He has a tremendous amount of potential,” Bacon said. “Jeff played hard last year in a trying situation, even in a system that shackled him as a player.”
Assistant coach Stephen Hamrick said Johnson has a great chance to become a special player for ACU.
“What makes him different is that he is older than a typical sophomore and he has an extra year under his belt,” Hamrick said. “He’s so much stronger than he was in high school and he’s more strong minded.”
Looking as much GQ as high-flying basketball player, Johnson might as well be chiseled out of granite. Carrying more than 200 pounds on his 6-foot-5 frame, Hamrick said that Johnson is different than most players his size because he relies on strengths like his quickness off the floor and slashing ability on the offensive end of the floor against larger opponents.
Even though he opened this season injuring his back in ACU’s 92-64 demolishing of the Inter-national Sports Federation, Johnson proclaimed he has even more in store for fans than last season’s averages of 8.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and .494 field goal percentage.
“I think I’m a pretty decent all-around player, but I want to be more aggressive this year,” said Johnson, who started all but five games last season. “Everybody says I’m a nice guy and I play like a nice guy, but when I get on the court I need to play like a man.”
And with the freedom of his coach, he is doing just that.
