MANSFIELD — The Winthrop University community is quickly finding out what Mansfield Senior fans have known for years.
Keon Johnson makes the impossible look ordinary.
The undersized Johnson — he’s listed graciously at 5-foot-7 on the Winthrop athletic web site — added yet another clip to his already impressive freshman highlight reel last weekend when he scored the game-winning basket with 1.6 seconds left in a 58-57 Big South Conference win over the Virginia Military Institute. Johnson’s circus shot — he had to re-adjust in mid-air as 6-foot-5 VMI forward Phillip Anglade knocked him to the floor — sent the Winthrop fans into a frenzy and sparked a wild celebration on the Eagles’ bench. It even elicited a rare show of emotion from the stoic Johnson, who managed to crack a smile during the postgame festivities after teammate Joab Jerome kissed him on the head not once, but twice.
“They were letting me have it to me pretty good,” Johnson said Thursday afternoon. “To hit that shot, it was a great feeling. I was in a position to make a play and I wanted the ball.”
Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey, himself a former undersized point guard, was glad to give it to him.
“He has a knack for making plays in big moments,” said Kelsey, who helped Cincinnati Elder win a Division I state title in 1993 as a player before starring at Xavier University. “He really makes things happen. That’s not something you can teach. It is God-given talent.”
It wasn’t the first time Johnson stepped up when the game was on the line. Before hitting the game-winner, he scored the go-ahead basket with 53 seconds left and hit a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining.
“He has a quiet confidence,” Kelsey said. “It’s not cockiness. It’s a characteristic of a really good player.
“It’s not the first time he has stepped up. He has taken big shots for us all year.”
Earlier in the season in a 101-95 double-overtime loss at Hampton, Johnson forced the second extra session with a layup with three seconds remaining. He scored a career-high 24 points in that loss. Three weeks later, he hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:09 to play in a 73-72 overtime win at Coastal Carolina, part of a 19-point night.
“I wouldn’t say he has surprised me with what he has been able to do, but being a true freshman playing at the Division I level is harder for certain guys,” Kelsey said. “For a guy coming straight out of high school, the college season, with the length and the intensity of it, can be grueling.”
Johnson agreed.
“It’s a big jump, going from high school to Division I college basketball,” Johnson said. “I feel like it’s been a pretty smooth transition. The game is faster and a lot more physical.”
Johnson has started 18 of 19 games for the Eagles (10-9, 4-3). He is averaging 12.2 points a game, second to Keon Moore (12.6).
“I think some people down there have been a little surprised by what he has been able to come in and do,” Johnson’s father, Eric, said. “Keon still scores in bunches.”
Scoring has always come easy for Johnson. He graduated last June as Mansfield Senior’s second leading scorer with 1,279 career points. He also ranks in Senior High’s top five in career assists (third with 220) and steals (fifth with 139).
In addition to his scoring output, Johnson is averaging 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game. He was selected the Big South Freshman of the Week for the week of Dec. 23.
“There was a stretch where he hit the wall and was a little less productive, but to his credit he has bounced back,” Kelsey said. “He has had a tremendous freshman year.”
So what does Johnson need to improve on?
“As a point guard, we want Keon to be a little more vocal,” Kelsey said. “He is still a little introverted. He’s known for his stoic personality, but he is sneaky funny. He has a great sense of humor and when he smiles, he lights up the room.”
Basketball aside, Johnson’s transition to college life has been seamless. He is carrying a 3.0 grade point average and plans to major in business.
“Academically, it’s a higher level than in high school,” Johnson said. “In high school, you are told where to be. In college, you’ve got to be more responsible.”
With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Winthrop is tied for second with UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb in the Big South’s South Division at 4-3. Coastal Carolina lead the South standings at 5-2. The conference tournament is March 4 to 9 at Coastal Carolina’s HTC Center in Conway, S.C.
“There are a lot of teams grouped together in the standings,” Johnson said. “It’s a very competitive league and we feel like we can play with anybody. We want to win a conference championship and get to the NCAA Tournament.”
Regardless of what happens in March, Kelsey is glad to have Johnson for three more seasons.
“He is a great ambassador for our university and our basketball program,” Kelsey said. “He’s going to have a great career here.”
