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Photos by Ted Melton.
Spain Park combo guard Jamal Johnson committed to Memphis in September and will play for legendary coach Tubby Smith.
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Jamal Johnson averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game as a junior. Now as a key returner, Johnson said he feels like the upcoming season has a good chance of being successful.
Tubby Smith probably didn’t think he had a shot at Jamal Johnson.
The coach who won the NCAA Championship in 1998 as the head coach at the University of Kentucky was on the Spain Park High School campus last year, at the time coaching at Texas Tech.
He was primarily looking at Austin Wiley, the talented 6-foot-10 forward who is committed to Auburn University and attended Spain Park through last school year.
“They were really here looking at Austin, then they saw Jamal play, and they were like, ‘Dang, who is this guy?’” recalled Spain Park head coach Donnie Quinn.
That impression of the athletic combo guard for the Jaguars stuck with Smith, who was hired at the University of Memphis in April.
One of the first things Smith did upon getting the job was call about Johnson.
“When they got the job at Memphis, they offered me right then,” Johnson said.
Johnson took an official visit to Memphis the first weekend of September, a trip that left no doubt in his mind about his future.
“It was a great visit,” he said. “I bonded with the team well. Coach Tubby and (assistant) coach (Joe) Esposito, I just felt like I could trust them the most. I feel like this team was the best fit for me, and I just wanted to make it happen.”
Josh Pastner spent the previous seven seasons as the head coach at Memphis before taking the Georgia Tech job in early April. In those seven years, Pastner won plenty, but the Tigers never regained the success as in John Calipari’s years as head coach, when they went to the Elite Eight twice and the national championship game in 2008. Calipari’s team only lost 14 games total in his final four years before he accepted the Kentucky job.
Johnson said he feels like he is part of the solution to restoring the Memphis basketball program to its previous heights.
“Memphis is a big basketball school and a big basketball city,” Johnson said. “I feel like with coach Tubby and his staff, they can turn it back around and make it better.”
Johnson’s current coach is happy with the decision for a pair of reasons. It is the fulfillment of a lifelong goal for Johnson, and allows him to focus solely on basketball in his senior season.
“I’m just proud for him because it’s been his ambition since he was a little kid,” Quinn said. “If anyone deserves it, it’s him. He’s worked really hard. I think Memphis is glad to have him. I think they’re lucky to have him.”
Speaking of focusing on his final high school season, Johnson faces a bit of an adjustment. During the 2015-16 season, Johnson, Wiley and Justin Brown were the focal points of the team, especially offensively. If defenses planned on shutting down one or two of those three, any of the three proved more than capable of carrying the team on his shoulders down the stretch of a game.
The Jags advanced to the state semifinals and finished with a 23-10 record. Wiley led the team in scoring, averaging a double-double with 21.7 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Johnson averaged 18 points per contest, seven rebounds and four assists. The third force in that potent offense was Brown, who chipped in 12.5 points per game.
Brown graduated, and Wiley transferred to The Conrad Academy in Orlando, Florida, leaving Johnson as the unquestioned leading returner. Despite that fact, Johnson feels like the upcoming season has a good chance of being successful.
“We made it pretty far last year, and we got a lot of players back,” Johnson said. “I feel like we can make another run for it. Everybody’s focused and determined to try to get back to that stage and to try to win it all this year.”
Johnson will be the focal point of every opposition. To counteract that, Johnson said he has to “keep progressing as a player.” He also emphasized playing together as a unit and not attempting to carry the load on his own.
“I think that we’ll be a better team if we’re all as one instead of one player being a great player,” he said
If that team concept is to come to fruition, Johnson will have to be the one to take the bull by the horns, according to Quinn.
“It all comes down to leadership,” Quinn said. “His leadership skills, if they can be better, he can really lead our team and have those guys play around him and for him. That’s what’s going to be the difference for us. I think we’ve got a really good team, some really good players, but will they jell? Will they play well together? Will they have the same goal as each other? If they do, we’ll be fine.”
Some of those players who will aim to provide production around Johnson are Xavier Blanchard, who was ineligible last year, forwards Justice Canady and Ronald Fortson, Parker Boswell and Johnson’s younger brother, Trey.
“They’re sleeping on some of the guys on our team,” Johnson said. “Once (other teams) realize that they can step up, they’re going to have to guard these players on our team, too.”
Quinn also noted the team’s game plan has always been built around Johnson to a certain extent, so he does not envision the team’s playing style to change dramatically. He also does not worry about Johnson potentially pressing or trying to do too much.
“I don’t think pressure bothers him,” Quinn said. “I don’t see that as an issue for him. I think he looks forward to that, actually. That doesn’t concern me at all.”
If there is one guy who can prepare Johnson for what is to come this year, it’s his father, Buck Johnson, who starred at Birmingham’s Hayes High School from 1979-1982. He won “Mr. Basketball” his senior season and then went on to play at the University of Alabama from 1982-1986. He was drafted in the first round by the Houston Rockets and spent seven seasons in the NBA.
“He’s been my only consistent trainer,” Jamal Johnson said. “He has been telling me to stay aggressive and to keep a positive mindset. With everything that happens, all the little triumphs you have, always keep a positive mindset and stuff will work out for you.”
