Alexander Johnson is evolving into a powerful inside presence under coach Leonard Hamilton.
By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published December 28, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Florida State freshman Alexander Johnson can see it wasn't the best idea. But give him a break. He was an eighth grader at the time.
"I didn't know any better," he said. "My friends got one and I decided to get one."
On his left forearm is a tattoo with the phrase "Tru Baller" circling a roughly drawn outline of a basketball. Older and wiser these days, Johnson's not pleased.
Not with having the tattoo.
But with having one that looks imperfect.
"It's homemade; somebody did it on the streets," he said, glancing at it and pulling the skin taut. "I'm going to get it redone so it'll look better."
Like that artwork, Johnson the basketball artist is a work in progress. There are unpolished aspects to his game, but he's looking better; remade in his brief time under coach Leonard Hamilton and the FSU staff.
Johnson is a 6-10, 250-pound forward whose polite, shy demeanor belies his powerful inside presence. Entering today's Atlantic Coast Conference opener against No.24 Maryland, he's averaging 8.7 points (third on the team) on 63.3 percent shooting and 3.5 rebounds.
"He demands that double team in there," junior forward Anthony Richardson said. "That's something we need and something we were kind of missing last year."
"Once he gets you on his back, you're at his mercy and he can just do what he wants," added senior center Mike Mathews. "I've never seen anybody come to this program as advanced as a freshman as he is."
Johnson eschewed offers from Connecticut and Cincinnati to come to FSU, a program that hadn't made the postseason the past five seasons.
A work in progress?
He could relate.
"With Coach Ham, I'd seen the guys he recruited and he went over with me how he was going to put things together," Johnson said. "I bought into what he said."
Johnson was thrilled to have such choices. After a brilliant oncourt career at Dougherty (Ga.) High, he found himself with a less than stellar offcourt resume. He had signed with Georgia in November 2001 but didn't qualify academically. He attended a prep school in Maine, Bridgton Academy, to earn his high school diploma and improve his grades.
"I knew it was going to help me because I was away from all of my distractions," Johnson said. "You couldn't get into any kind of trouble unless you just wanted to be lazy and miss class."
He didn't and finished his year with a 3.2 grade-point average. Most important, he hit 920 on his SAT, paving the way for him to enroll at a four-year college.
"I failed like five times," Johnson said. "I kept feeling that I thought I couldn't get through it. I just kept praying, and then I got that 920. That felt really good."
Until allegations at Georgia surfaced that someone else took the test for him. Johnson has maintained he knew nothing of that, but the allegations were enough to end any talks with him re-signing with the Bulldogs. (Other unrelated academic improprieties later toppled coach Jim Harrick.) Still, the whole ordeal made Johnson realize how much he wanted to be the first person in his immediate family to go to college. And play basketball.
"I think he's always been a kid who's extremely determined," Hamilton said. "That's a result of his parents, what he's been exposed to, people who helped raise him, his focus. ... He's a tough-minded kid who has a tremendous desire and a competitive spirit."
FSU players expected Johnson to be a key contributor once he grasped Hamilton's system. No easy task. Offensively, when the ball is passed, a player may have three or more options. It can intimidate and befuddle neophytes and upperclassmen.
But Johnson appears to be getting the hang of things, which was never more evident than against Miami two weeks ago. With FSU leading 59-58 with 59 seconds left, Hamilton set a play for Johnson.
"Tim (Pickett) had to come set a pick for me and I had to make sure I timed the pick right; that was on my mind," Johnson said. "I had to visualize it and make sure I timed the play right."
He did. After coming off the screen, he took an entry pass, dribbled twice, faked left, came back right and, hanging in the air and drawing contact, threw in a shot over Gary Hamilton.
"That play broke them," Richardson said. "After that, I saw them kind of drop a little bit."
The Seminoles won 67-58.
"A.J. has shown the potential to be consistent with those type of plays all along," Hamilton said. "We're trying to keep him in his comfort zone but also expand his game."
