By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

He has been dubbed "The Mayor of Millett" by the folks in the Miami University athletic department who are responsible for promoting RedHawks basketball, but that doesn't mean Juby Johnson thinks there's no room in his life for self-improvement projects.

His latest task? Eliminating the phrase "You know what I'm saying?" from his conversations. It used to come up in his vernacular like other people say, "You know?" or "Uh." Every time he says it within earshot of Angie Renninger, the team's information director, he's supposed to pay her a quarter.

Johnson's making progress. He didn't utter the offending phrase once during a recent 15-minute interview. His coaches and Miami fans can only hope he's as successful in upgrading his game.

The 6-foot-5 junior forward is carrying quite a load. He is one of four returning starters and the top returning scorer from last season's team, and he was the only RedHawk among the five players named to the Mid-American Conference East Division preseason all-star team.

Johnson generally is considered Miami's best all-around player.

"I'm not going to say there's a lot of pressure," said Johnson, who turned 21 on Nov.8. "I've just got to go out and play. I have gotten better at a few things. I've just got to go out and give 100 percent every night. I can't worry about the hype."

"Juby has worked very hard on his game over the summer," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "He should become a good scorer for us - not just an average scorer - and give us some additional scoring punch."

Offense is the focus at Miami this season. The RedHawks are hoping to fix scoring problems that plagued them last season and offset a size problem by adopting a motion-oriented, high-post offense featuring what they hope will be an array of non-stop backdoor cuts that bewilder opponents.

While junior guard Chet Mason, sophomore forward Danny Horace and junior forward Gene Seals are are expected to score more, Johnson faces the highest expectations after he averaged 10.5 points a game while playing in all 31 and starting 29 of the RedHawks' games last season. He also started 29 of Miami's 33 games as a freshman, when he averaged 6.6 points a game and was named to the MAC All-Freshman team.

Much of Johnson's reputation as a scorer has been built on his outside shooting. His 44 3-pointers led the RedHawks last season, but he expects to find himself working closer to the basket as Miami hones its new offense.

He hit two free throws in the first half and didn't score from the field until midway through the second half of Miami's season-opening exhibition game against Branch West Basketball Academy, a 91-76 victory. He went 3-for-8 from the field and finished with 10 points.

"I've had to work on my driving game," Johnson said. "I stayed in the weight room this summer and got a lot stronger. The key is being able to finish down low."

Said Coles: "We know where the scoring's going to come from. Each year, he's slow getting started, and he's got to learn to move without the ball. He has trouble with that. But we love him. How can you not love him?"

Johnson, whose given first name is Julius, is the middle son of three born to Narbell and William Johnson. His father was his first coach, in a youth recreational league, and also coached him as a freshman at Garfield Heights.

"He kept us in a lot of leagues, and he always made me play an age group up," Juby said. "I watched my older brother (William Jr., nicknamed Sonny) and wanted to compete with him."

Sonny, a senior at Ohio University, transferred from Canton Central Catholic to play with Juby at Garfield Heights and went on to be named Ohio's Mr. Basketball. Juby followed in his footsteps, transferring from Garfield Heights to play with his younger brother, Demetrius, at Warrensville Heights. The two were teammates on the Tigers team that beat Purcell Marian 76-74 in overtime to win the 2000 Division II state championship.

Juby scored 28 points in the title game - including a 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left to force overtime - on his way to being named tournament most valuable player.

Juby was recruited by Cincinnati, Ohio State and Xavier before deciding on MU. He started his first collegiate game and scored the first basket at Xavier's Cintas Center.

Two years later, he's "The Mayor of Millett."

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