Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Miami's Johnson catching on
Heralded freshman getting hang of college game
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Julius Johnson has lived with the label since he signed with Miami University.
When describing how good Johnson was, Miami coach Charlie Coles went back past Wally Szczerbiak, Damon Frierson and Devin Davis.
“He's probably Miami's best recruit since Ron Harper,” Coles said.
That creates lofty expectations.
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CMU at MIAMI
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• Where: Millett Hall (9,200).
• Records: Miami 5-8 (1-1 Mid-American Conference), CMU 7-3 (1-0).
• TV: None.
• Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450).
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Player-Ht-Yr-Avg
David Webber -6-2-Jr.-17.6
Tim Kisner -6-2-Sr.-8.4
Chad Pleiness-6-6-So.-9.4
Gerrit Brigitha-6-8-Fr.-7.5
Mike Manciel-6-5-So.-10.4
Coach: Jay Smith (28-63, fourth season; 51-69 overall)
MIAMI
Player-Ht-Yr-Avg
J. Grunkemeyer-6-510.4
Doug Davis -6-3-Jr.-9.0
Rich Allendorf-6-10-Sr.-4.6
Alex Shorts-6-8-So.-13.6
Juby Johnson-6-5--Fr.>5.7
Coach: Charlie Coles (82-52, fifth season; 174-137 overall)
BY THE NUMBERS
• 4-1: Coles' record against CMU, where he coached for six years.
• 20: Number of years since CMU started the season with a record as good as 7-3.
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Johnson, a freshman who will start when Miami plays Central Michigan at 7p.m. today at Millett Hall, is beginning to live up to the hype. He equaled career highs for points (12) and rebounds (5) and set personal bests for assists (4) and steals (3) in the RedHawks' 71-54 victory over Marshall Saturday. He also held Thundering Herd star Tamar Slay to four first-half points as Miami built a 19-point lead.
“I expected him to play like that all along,” Coles said.
Johnson, a 6-foot-5 forward from Warrensville Heights expected himself to play that way.
But college basketball has been a huge adjustment for Johnson, who goes by the nickname “Juby.”
“Learning the offense was the main thing,” he said. “We run plays here. We never ran plays in high school. It was run and gun.”
Johnson averaged 25.6 points and 14 rebounds a game as a senior at Warrensville Heights. He led the team to the Division II state championship.
He was a star. The game came easy to him.
That hasn't been the case at Miami. He has scored 12 points three times but also has been shut out three times.
Seeing a zero at the end of his line in the box score was a shock.
“I never thought that would happen to me,” Johnson said. “Being so highly recruited and then not to score at all ... it hurt me a lot.”
Johnson's adjustment has been made more difficult because of Miami's schedule.
“We haven't had a game where we just blew somebody out,” Coles said. “We haven't had any easy games.”
Coles kept Johnson in the lineup largely because of his defense. “That's something I didn't know about,” Coles said. “But he's been all right on defense.”
Johnson took the advice of Miami senior Mike Ensminger early in the preseason.
“He told me, "Defense keeps you on the floor,'” Johnson said. “I never played defense at all in high school.”
Johnson's offense has started to come around. He's averaging 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds over his last four games, pushing his season averages up to 5.7 and 2.5.
Johnson gets most of his points on drives to the basket. Shots that look awkward usually fall in for him.
“He's uncanny,” Coles said. “He has that knack.”
Johnson is shooting 36 percent from the floor and 25 percent from 3-point range. “I shot pretty well from the outside in high school,” he said. “It will come. This is all new.”
Johnson has played his best against MU's best opponents. If the trend continues, he will have a big game tonight.
The Chippewas (7-3) won at Purdue and just ended Bowling Green's 20-game home winning streak.
“They're very good,” Coles said. “Central will win 17, 18 games.”
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