MUSKEGON – Muskegon Catholic’s Jaden Johnson wasn’t exactly making headlines in the first few weeks of the basketball season.
Despite his size and athleticism, Johnson was turning in some pretty mediocre numbers for the Crusaders, particularly from a scoring perspective.
He had five points in the season opener against North Muskegon (a 53-23 loss), then seven points in the Lakes 8 Conference opener against Manistee (a 29-25 loss).
For a 6-5, 240-pound senior post player, that was not real impressive.
Johnson’s low point came in the third game of the season against Fruitport, when MCC lost 53-42. He only scored two points in the first half, was not in the lineup at the start of the second half, and his frustration boiled over.
[1]“I never felt worse after a basketball game,” Johnson said. “I lost all hope for the season at that point. I mean, two points and four rebounds? I was pretty upset. I was in my car after the game, and just sat there for a while.”
Johnson was still in his car when first-year MCC head coach Rob Recknagel found him and talked to him about the game, the season, and everything on his mind.
“He was emotional, upset, and we just had a really good talk,” said Recknagel, a former Crusader girls coach and Muskegon Community College women’s coach. “I just tried to pick him up. I told him he had to put it right in his mind, figure out what he wanted to get out of the season, what his goals were, and put the three bad games behind him. He had to figure out what he was capable of doing.
“I told him one of the biggest things is, no matter what the situation is, he had to have a next play mentality. You have to play through the referees’ calls, teammates’ mistakes, or anything that doesn’t go our way. You have to stay level and be mentally tough.
“Then he took a day off, came back and started playing phenomenal.”
[2]Suddenly there was a new Jaden Johnson on the court, and everyone took notice.
He exploded with a breakout game on Dec. 17 against Orchard View, scoring 34 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a big 60-55 victory.
He scored 25 of his points in the second half, including 15 in the crucial fourth quarter.
“I’ve coached basketball for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a better performance in one half than what that kid did against Orchard View,” Recknagel said.
A long Christmas break did not slow the newly-motivated Johnson down.
On Tuesday against a very good Fruitport Calvary Christian team, he kept up the amazing pace, totaling 22 points and 21 rebounds. That drove his averages up to 14 points and 15 rebounds per game.
“After that Orchard View game, my confidence just shot up,” said Johnson, a third-year varsity player who had only scored more than 20 points once in his first two seasons. “That was the first time anybody on my team had beaten Orchard View, and everyone was super happy. I woke up every day thinking ‘I scored 34 points!’
“The last few games, I just told myself to get as many rebounds as I can possibly get, and when I get the ball, score. It’s worked out pretty well for me. I’m just going out there and having fun.”
[3]Johnson’s mental funk at the beginning of the basketball season traces back to the football season.
He was a two-way All-State linemen for the MCC football team, which went 8-1 in the regular season and won two playoff games, before being eliminated by Lawton 41-22 in the Division 7 regional finals.
The loss was devastating for Johnson and his teammates, who dreamed of winning a state title.
Three days after that ugly loss, Johnson and a lot of other football players reported to basketball practice, but his head wasn’t really into it.
Then came three straight painful losses to start the season, and Johnson’s negative feelings intensified.
“It was very hard,” Johnson said about the football loss. “We didn’t expect to play that poorly. Then two days later we hopped into basketball, and I don’t think I was really ready to hop in at that point. I don’t think any of the football players were. We had to learn so much from a new coach.
“In the North Muskegon game (the season opener), I had five points in the first quarter, but then I ended up not scoring any more at all, and we ended up doing awful. The Manistee game was really frustrating. We shot 20 percent from the field, which was absolutely awful.”
[4]Johnson said talking with Coach Recknagel after the Fruitport game really helped him clear his mind.
“He kind of calmed me down,” he said. “He said we’re not going to win the best team in Michigan award, but as long as I keep my expectations for myself high, I will do just fine. After that I just figured, why not just give it my all? It’s my last year of playing basketball. So I went all out the next game, and it worked out pretty well.”
The newly-motivated Johnson started dominating in the low post, winning battles for rebounds and loose balls and getting tons of putback buckets.
“What he did the last two games was shocking,” Recknagel said. “He’s not fast, but he has good agility for a big guy, and he’s very strong. Suddenly he has a desire to go after all the 50/50 balls or any ball that is bobbled or tipped. It was really evident in that Orchard View game. He willed us to win that game.
“Something just happened within that kid. He’s like a completely different player. He just flipped the switch and decided to go out in blaze of glory every game.”
The Crusaders did not win the game at Fruitport Calvary on Tuesday. Despite Johnson’s big performance, the Eagles rallied in the final minutes to steal a 58-54 victory.
So MCC is sitting at 1-4 heading into its next game. But with Johnson’s new mental determination, the team has new hope of turning its season around and getting more wins over the next few months.
For the first time, Johnson is considering playing college basketball, along with football, because Recknagel believes he could be good enough to do it.
“I never really thought about it before the season,” said Johnson, who is currently considering playing football at Hillsdale College, Alma College or Saginaw Valley State University. “Last year I was pretty average in basketball, but Rob just keeps encouraging me. After the Orchard View game he texted me, telling me I looked like I could be a college basketball player.
“I guess it’s a possibility. I’ve never been in so much of a zone. I wish I would have had a better start, so my stats would be better. But stats really don’t matter. It’s about the team and winning more games.”
[5]