SE: Q&A with K-State MBB Alum, Current Greek Professional D.J. Johnson
Mar 27, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
D.J. Johnson has a story he's never told anyone before, but he's always wanted to share. It's from a practice in 2012, during his freshman year at K-State.
"We were going over scout team," Johnson starts. "I was just a dumb freshman. I had no basketball IQ coming into college. I just ball screened.
"I didn't know anything about scout but I was in scout, on the floor, and there was a fly buzzing around," the 6-foot-9 former Wildcat continues. "I'm supposed to be paying attention to Coach (Bruce) Weber and Coach (Chris) Lowery and the fly keeps buzzing and I close my fingertips," Johnson pauses briefly, to add suspense, before resuming. "And I catch this fly by the wings… by the wings! I catch it and I'm, like, 'Oh man!'
"But I couldn't say anything. I couldn't tell anybody about it. That's the story. I couldn't tell anybody because I was supposed to be paying attention for scout. I always wanted to tell that story. I've never told anybody that. Total accident."
Why is this story important to Johnson? It's not, really. Right?
Sure, Johnson developed into a force down low for the Wildcats through mostly hard work and toughness. And yeah, he's now playing professionally for Lavrio in Greece's top league, where his highly developed basketball IQ is helping him average 7.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 13.4 minutes a game.
So maybe Johnson's Matrix-level fly-catching story is more than a funny moment. Maybe, as Johnson sat in the Ice Family Basketball Facility in February while back in Manhattan from a midseason break in Greece, it was a reflection of how far he's come as a basketball player.
Or maybe not. Either way, Johnson was happy to be back in Manhattan for a few days, allowing him to reflect on the impact K-State had and is still having on him.
About five weeks later, after watching K-State's run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, Johnson reveled in what it was like to watch his former teammates take the program to another level. In Part 1 of this Q&A, Johnson talks with K-State Sports Extra about the Wildcats' NCAA Tournament success. In Part 2, Johnson discusses everything from messages he still remembers from Weber, who recently became the first K-State head coach to lead the Wildcats to two 25-win seasons, and his coaching staff to the food scene in Greece.
Part 1
SE: What was it like watching K-State's NCAA Tournament run from afar?
DJ: I think I really felt like a fan for the first time, kind of cheering K-State on. I cheer other sports on, obviously, like football and baseball, but it's not the same as cheering the sport that you used to play. I was just really excited. All of the games played in the tournament were at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3:45 a.m., in Greece, so I stayed up for them. I was excited just to see the guys play. I took a nap before one from like 12 to 2 (a.m.), woke up at 2:30, got some food, came back to the house, watched the game. It was fun watching them play, especially picking up where we left off last year and not disappointing and coming and making a run. That was really exciting, getting over that hump, past that first round and to just keep rolling.
SE: Did you see the potential for this team to make a run like this?
DJ: I had no idea if they could make a run, just because in the tournament anything can happen. Looking at it, I was, like, 'I know they're going to make the tournament. It's just about getting there and seeing the matchups you got and playing.' You just have to come out and play, and they did that. No matter who their opponent was, they just came out and played. That was great to see them overcome of those obstacles that we struggled with in the past.
SE: What do you think it says about Coach Weber, his staff and the players that they were able to make the run without their top scorer in Dean Wade for all but eight minutes of the NCAA Tournament?
DJ: It says a lot about the program, I feel like. Looking at the coaches, they continue to be great coaches and it pays off, just doing the little things. It shows. They scout teams well. They get the guys going. They get them to play good defense, put them in the position to win every game, and that's just not the tournament, that was all season. You lose a game at Allen Fieldhouse or you lose a couple games by one, two, three points, and it's always a credit to the coaches for putting us in that position to win and it's always the players' jobs to execute. Looking at the players, I'm so excited for next year. Looking at some of their snaps (on Snapchat), they were playing open gym the other day on their own. I like it. I like the vibe. Everybody's expected to be back next year with a healthy Dean. The sky's the limit. The run says a lot about the players and the coaches. We have a great coaching staff and they do things the right way and do things the K-State way and it trickles down to the players. They do things the right way and it pays off. (Coach Weber's) a hard working guy, a good guy. He does things the right way, so I'm just happy. I'm happy for that whole staff because we had some ups and downs in those two years we didn't make the tournament and then we finally get back and we don't execute. Last year, I think I kind of laid an egg in the tournament. That second game against Cincinnati, I just played horrible. I only had eight points. I'm just happy to see those guys succeed. They just took the reins and they ran with it. Anybody who stepped in front of them, they handled their business. I'm just so proud of them.
SE: You're now teammates with Doron Lamb, who played two seasons (2010-12) for Kentucky. Did give him any grief when K-State beat his Wildcats?
DJ: I didn't give him too much grief. He wanted to bet me, but I told him no. I'm not a betting man, but I told him two or three days before the game, 'Man, we got this. Even if we don't have Dean Wade, we still got this.' The matchup between the two, I thought we had the advantage, even though we didn't have Dean to be that juggernaut. They were keeping their hands on him. He got in the game two or three times and there were guys grabbing him. I'm, like, 'He's not doing much right now but they are afraid of this man.' It was cool to see that. Then (Doron) and Shane Southwell, they grew up playing together. That was another connection that we had. I remember (in 2012) we watched Doron win a championship, so that was real exciting. Then I get to meet him and play with him, it's just been great. I don't know if it's just a championship mentality that he has, but he always gets guys involved on the court, is always staying positive. It's great to have him around while I'm playing out here.
Part 2
SE: How would you describe your transition from K-State to your first professional season in Greece?
DJ: I really struggled with not having Coach Lowery or Coach (Chester) Frazier or BK (Brad Korn) or Coach Weber there yelling at me, 'Run the floor. Seal. Get to the gym early.' Those little things that I thought didn't make a difference or I thought I could get by without doing, I really felt that in the first couple of weeks. I text them and told them that and they were, like, 'Those things matter. You have to get those touches around the rim.' Just little drills like that to keep it going. I think more than anything, that's been my struggle, thinking that you can bypass doing the little things, and I learned that lesson. It's been good ever since. I'm not averaging as many minutes as I was when I was in college, of course, but I've been really efficient and productive, just willing to do anything to help my team win, kind of the same role as when I was here.
SE: What is the competition level like in your league compared to what you have seen before?
DJ: I'd say the competition is good, overall. You're going to bump into some old NBA players there. You're going to bump into some guys you heard about in college that just were killers. It's good. That keeps things live; that keeps me interested in playing. You get to go up against this guy who was possibly drafted two or three years ago and now he's in Greece and you're playing against him. I have an opportunity to play against Michigan State's Adreian Payne (signed with first-place Panathinaikos), so that'll be fun. Just little things like that, and I have a couple of NBA guys on my team too, like Doron Lamb. The competition is good, especially at that big position. I'll get to go against a lot of dominant bigs that I've heard of before.
SE: How different is the style of play over there? What are the biggest adjustments you've had to make?
DJ: It's a little more chaotic just because as a five man here I'm hedging out and I'm going back to my man. Being there, I'm switching a lot, which I don't mind. I don't mind going out on a guard, but I noticed it at the beginning of the season, like I kind of have to pick up my pace and become a little more aggressive on the defensive end when guarding those guards. It's different in that aspect. Offensively, I wouldn't know how to describe (the differences). It's not as stagnant as watching college basketball. It's going. It's a ball screen here. It's a back cut there. Some games you see that a lot with some college teams but it's more often (in Europe). You really have to be on your Ps and Qs on defense because you have a guy cutting back door and you have another guy throwing a lob, so it's different. It's a little more hectic, something I have to keep my pace up with.
SE: How much has your basketball IQ grown since that fly-catching freshman season at K-State?
DJ: Now I'm there and I'm calling out a lot of the stuff that the coaches are calling out on the bench. Just little things that I've learned here (at K-State) have really got me over the hump while playing there.
SE: What about living in Greece? How rewarding of an experience has that been to live in a completely new country through basketball?
DJ: It's good. I'm always up for new things, and it's exciting to go and see somebody else's country and learn about their culture. I'm doing my best between me and one of my teammates, we really want to get the language down. We have our Greek teammates teaching us a little Greek here and there. It's been an overall good experience. My apartment is right on the beach, so I wake up and the ocean is right there, so it's definitely different than growing up in downtown St. Louis. It's different. I still haven't soaked it all in, but I've definitely appreciated the opportunity that I have now.
SE: For those of us who have never been to Greece, can you tell us a little bit about where you live?
SE: I live in Lavrio, which is a small, small city, about 10,000 people. It is southeast of Athens, about 30, 40 minutes. I'm about 20 minutes southeast of Athens International Airport, which is real convenient if I need to get back here or I have family coming in or friends coming in. It's a small town, though; a port city that's got a lot of ships coming in and out, and a couple of ferries that can take you to the islands, which is nice. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Manhattan. Not very big, not too small, just the right size. We have a couple of American cuisine restaurants around, so it's good.
SE: While we're on the subject of food, what part of the Greek cuisine have you enjoyed the most?
DJ: I like the food a lot. I kind of took it upon myself my junior and senior year (at K-State) to kind of eat clean, the cleanest that I could. And over there it's easy to do. They have a fresh market that I go to every Thursday. I buy all my salmon from there. I eat salmon almost every day, and fruits and veggies. I've dove into a couple of the culture foods, like gyros, which were good. Yemista is a Greek dish they also have with tomatoes and bell peppers with stuffed rice. I've hopped on the culture a little bit. The restaurant we eat team dinner at is a Greek restaurant, so they serve a lot of Greek food, so I've had an opportunity to taste a little bit of everything.
SE: How does the basketball culture over there compare to the United States?
DJ: The fans are really into it. This game that I just played before coming here, on February 14, one of the teams, Aris, they've always had a big basketball culture. Their fans, they were really, really into the game (laughs). They just love their team and their history. They were one of the first Greek teams to win the EuroLeague, so their fans are really strong and passionate about the sport. Surprisingly it's like that in a lot of other gyms that we travel to. You have a lot of good fan bases coming out. I don't think it's anything compared to what we have in Bramlage but a lot of good fans. I went over there thinking soccer might have been the biggest thing, the biggest sport there, but everyone is really into basketball. Everywhere I go they always ask about (Giannis Antetokounmpo, AKA the Greek Freak) who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Everywhere, that's their guy. Basketball just seems like really big everywhere I go.
SE: There a number of former Wildcats playing or who have played in Europe or somewhere overseas. Did you reach out to any of them for advice?
DJ: Of course, with Gip (Thomas Gipson), he's like my big brother. JO (Jordan Henriquez), too. Curtis (Kelly) always tells me if I need anything, call him and let him know. I feel like throughout this last summer with TBT, just talking to those guys, they made it known that, 'If you need anything, if you have any questions, let us know because that's what we're here for. We've been through it already.' I feel like I can call upon any of them at any time. If I have a question or am having trouble, they'll surely answer. I spoke with Gip earlier in the season just about playing, the competition, the whole nine. He just gave me the spiel on it. We talked about that all summer long, between me, him and the rest of those guys. It was good. I haven't get a chance to play against any of them or see them but I got a chance to see a lot of guys from the Big 12, at least two or three. (Former Kansas forward) Jamari Traylor was playing in the same league as me but he ended up signing a contract elsewhere at midseason. I played against (Iowa State's) Melvin Ejim. Travis Releford, who played at Alabama, him and Will Spradling are really good friends, so I got to say 'what's up' to him. It's a good league with a couple familiar faces.
D.J. Johnson has a story he's never told anyone before, but he's always wanted to share. It's from a practice in 2012, during his freshman year at K-State.
"We were going over scout team," Johnson starts. "I was just a dumb freshman. I had no basketball IQ coming into college. I just ball screened.
"I didn't know anything about scout but I was in scout, on the floor, and there was a fly buzzing around," the 6-foot-9 former Wildcat continues. "I'm supposed to be paying attention to Coach (Bruce) Weber and Coach (Chris) Lowery and the fly keeps buzzing and I close my fingertips," Johnson pauses briefly, to add suspense, before resuming. "And I catch this fly by the wings… by the wings! I catch it and I'm, like, 'Oh man!'
"But I couldn't say anything. I couldn't tell anybody about it. That's the story. I couldn't tell anybody because I was supposed to be paying attention for scout. I always wanted to tell that story. I've never told anybody that. Total accident."
Why is this story important to Johnson? It's not, really. Right?
Sure, Johnson developed into a force down low for the Wildcats through mostly hard work and toughness. And yeah, he's now playing professionally for Lavrio in Greece's top league, where his highly developed basketball IQ is helping him average 7.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in 13.4 minutes a game.
So maybe Johnson's Matrix-level fly-catching story is more than a funny moment. Maybe, as Johnson sat in the Ice Family Basketball Facility in February while back in Manhattan from a midseason break in Greece, it was a reflection of how far he's come as a basketball player.
Or maybe not. Either way, Johnson was happy to be back in Manhattan for a few days, allowing him to reflect on the impact K-State had and is still having on him.
About five weeks later, after watching K-State's run to the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, Johnson reveled in what it was like to watch his former teammates take the program to another level. In Part 1 of this Q&A, Johnson talks with K-State Sports Extra about the Wildcats' NCAA Tournament success. In Part 2, Johnson discusses everything from messages he still remembers from Weber, who recently became the first K-State head coach to lead the Wildcats to two 25-win seasons, and his coaching staff to the food scene in Greece.
Part 1
SE: What was it like watching K-State's NCAA Tournament run from afar?
DJ: I think I really felt like a fan for the first time, kind of cheering K-State on. I cheer other sports on, obviously, like football and baseball, but it's not the same as cheering the sport that you used to play. I was just really excited. All of the games played in the tournament were at 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3:45 a.m., in Greece, so I stayed up for them. I was excited just to see the guys play. I took a nap before one from like 12 to 2 (a.m.), woke up at 2:30, got some food, came back to the house, watched the game. It was fun watching them play, especially picking up where we left off last year and not disappointing and coming and making a run. That was really exciting, getting over that hump, past that first round and to just keep rolling.
SE: Did you see the potential for this team to make a run like this?
DJ: I had no idea if they could make a run, just because in the tournament anything can happen. Looking at it, I was, like, 'I know they're going to make the tournament. It's just about getting there and seeing the matchups you got and playing.' You just have to come out and play, and they did that. No matter who their opponent was, they just came out and played. That was great to see them overcome of those obstacles that we struggled with in the past.
SE: What do you think it says about Coach Weber, his staff and the players that they were able to make the run without their top scorer in Dean Wade for all but eight minutes of the NCAA Tournament?
DJ: It says a lot about the program, I feel like. Looking at the coaches, they continue to be great coaches and it pays off, just doing the little things. It shows. They scout teams well. They get the guys going. They get them to play good defense, put them in the position to win every game, and that's just not the tournament, that was all season. You lose a game at Allen Fieldhouse or you lose a couple games by one, two, three points, and it's always a credit to the coaches for putting us in that position to win and it's always the players' jobs to execute. Looking at the players, I'm so excited for next year. Looking at some of their snaps (on Snapchat), they were playing open gym the other day on their own. I like it. I like the vibe. Everybody's expected to be back next year with a healthy Dean. The sky's the limit. The run says a lot about the players and the coaches. We have a great coaching staff and they do things the right way and do things the K-State way and it trickles down to the players. They do things the right way and it pays off. (Coach Weber's) a hard working guy, a good guy. He does things the right way, so I'm just happy. I'm happy for that whole staff because we had some ups and downs in those two years we didn't make the tournament and then we finally get back and we don't execute. Last year, I think I kind of laid an egg in the tournament. That second game against Cincinnati, I just played horrible. I only had eight points. I'm just happy to see those guys succeed. They just took the reins and they ran with it. Anybody who stepped in front of them, they handled their business. I'm just so proud of them.
SE: You're now teammates with Doron Lamb, who played two seasons (2010-12) for Kentucky. Did give him any grief when K-State beat his Wildcats?
DJ: I didn't give him too much grief. He wanted to bet me, but I told him no. I'm not a betting man, but I told him two or three days before the game, 'Man, we got this. Even if we don't have Dean Wade, we still got this.' The matchup between the two, I thought we had the advantage, even though we didn't have Dean to be that juggernaut. They were keeping their hands on him. He got in the game two or three times and there were guys grabbing him. I'm, like, 'He's not doing much right now but they are afraid of this man.' It was cool to see that. Then (Doron) and Shane Southwell, they grew up playing together. That was another connection that we had. I remember (in 2012) we watched Doron win a championship, so that was real exciting. Then I get to meet him and play with him, it's just been great. I don't know if it's just a championship mentality that he has, but he always gets guys involved on the court, is always staying positive. It's great to have him around while I'm playing out here.
Part 2
SE: How would you describe your transition from K-State to your first professional season in Greece?
DJ: I really struggled with not having Coach Lowery or Coach (Chester) Frazier or BK (Brad Korn) or Coach Weber there yelling at me, 'Run the floor. Seal. Get to the gym early.' Those little things that I thought didn't make a difference or I thought I could get by without doing, I really felt that in the first couple of weeks. I text them and told them that and they were, like, 'Those things matter. You have to get those touches around the rim.' Just little drills like that to keep it going. I think more than anything, that's been my struggle, thinking that you can bypass doing the little things, and I learned that lesson. It's been good ever since. I'm not averaging as many minutes as I was when I was in college, of course, but I've been really efficient and productive, just willing to do anything to help my team win, kind of the same role as when I was here.
SE: What is the competition level like in your league compared to what you have seen before?
DJ: I'd say the competition is good, overall. You're going to bump into some old NBA players there. You're going to bump into some guys you heard about in college that just were killers. It's good. That keeps things live; that keeps me interested in playing. You get to go up against this guy who was possibly drafted two or three years ago and now he's in Greece and you're playing against him. I have an opportunity to play against Michigan State's Adreian Payne (signed with first-place Panathinaikos), so that'll be fun. Just little things like that, and I have a couple of NBA guys on my team too, like Doron Lamb. The competition is good, especially at that big position. I'll get to go against a lot of dominant bigs that I've heard of before.
SE: How different is the style of play over there? What are the biggest adjustments you've had to make?
DJ: It's a little more chaotic just because as a five man here I'm hedging out and I'm going back to my man. Being there, I'm switching a lot, which I don't mind. I don't mind going out on a guard, but I noticed it at the beginning of the season, like I kind of have to pick up my pace and become a little more aggressive on the defensive end when guarding those guards. It's different in that aspect. Offensively, I wouldn't know how to describe (the differences). It's not as stagnant as watching college basketball. It's going. It's a ball screen here. It's a back cut there. Some games you see that a lot with some college teams but it's more often (in Europe). You really have to be on your Ps and Qs on defense because you have a guy cutting back door and you have another guy throwing a lob, so it's different. It's a little more hectic, something I have to keep my pace up with.
SE: How much has your basketball IQ grown since that fly-catching freshman season at K-State?
DJ: Now I'm there and I'm calling out a lot of the stuff that the coaches are calling out on the bench. Just little things that I've learned here (at K-State) have really got me over the hump while playing there.
SE: What about living in Greece? How rewarding of an experience has that been to live in a completely new country through basketball?
DJ: It's good. I'm always up for new things, and it's exciting to go and see somebody else's country and learn about their culture. I'm doing my best between me and one of my teammates, we really want to get the language down. We have our Greek teammates teaching us a little Greek here and there. It's been an overall good experience. My apartment is right on the beach, so I wake up and the ocean is right there, so it's definitely different than growing up in downtown St. Louis. It's different. I still haven't soaked it all in, but I've definitely appreciated the opportunity that I have now.
SE: For those of us who have never been to Greece, can you tell us a little bit about where you live?
SE: I live in Lavrio, which is a small, small city, about 10,000 people. It is southeast of Athens, about 30, 40 minutes. I'm about 20 minutes southeast of Athens International Airport, which is real convenient if I need to get back here or I have family coming in or friends coming in. It's a small town, though; a port city that's got a lot of ships coming in and out, and a couple of ferries that can take you to the islands, which is nice. It kind of reminds me a little bit of Manhattan. Not very big, not too small, just the right size. We have a couple of American cuisine restaurants around, so it's good.
SE: While we're on the subject of food, what part of the Greek cuisine have you enjoyed the most?
DJ: I like the food a lot. I kind of took it upon myself my junior and senior year (at K-State) to kind of eat clean, the cleanest that I could. And over there it's easy to do. They have a fresh market that I go to every Thursday. I buy all my salmon from there. I eat salmon almost every day, and fruits and veggies. I've dove into a couple of the culture foods, like gyros, which were good. Yemista is a Greek dish they also have with tomatoes and bell peppers with stuffed rice. I've hopped on the culture a little bit. The restaurant we eat team dinner at is a Greek restaurant, so they serve a lot of Greek food, so I've had an opportunity to taste a little bit of everything.
SE: How does the basketball culture over there compare to the United States?
DJ: The fans are really into it. This game that I just played before coming here, on February 14, one of the teams, Aris, they've always had a big basketball culture. Their fans, they were really, really into the game (laughs). They just love their team and their history. They were one of the first Greek teams to win the EuroLeague, so their fans are really strong and passionate about the sport. Surprisingly it's like that in a lot of other gyms that we travel to. You have a lot of good fan bases coming out. I don't think it's anything compared to what we have in Bramlage but a lot of good fans. I went over there thinking soccer might have been the biggest thing, the biggest sport there, but everyone is really into basketball. Everywhere I go they always ask about (Giannis Antetokounmpo, AKA the Greek Freak) who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Everywhere, that's their guy. Basketball just seems like really big everywhere I go.
SE: There a number of former Wildcats playing or who have played in Europe or somewhere overseas. Did you reach out to any of them for advice?
DJ: Of course, with Gip (Thomas Gipson), he's like my big brother. JO (Jordan Henriquez), too. Curtis (Kelly) always tells me if I need anything, call him and let him know. I feel like throughout this last summer with TBT, just talking to those guys, they made it known that, 'If you need anything, if you have any questions, let us know because that's what we're here for. We've been through it already.' I feel like I can call upon any of them at any time. If I have a question or am having trouble, they'll surely answer. I spoke with Gip earlier in the season just about playing, the competition, the whole nine. He just gave me the spiel on it. We talked about that all summer long, between me, him and the rest of those guys. It was good. I haven't get a chance to play against any of them or see them but I got a chance to see a lot of guys from the Big 12, at least two or three. (Former Kansas forward) Jamari Traylor was playing in the same league as me but he ended up signing a contract elsewhere at midseason. I played against (Iowa State's) Melvin Ejim. Travis Releford, who played at Alabama, him and Will Spradling are really good friends, so I got to say 'what's up' to him. It's a good league with a couple familiar faces.
Players Mentioned
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