Highly touted freshman wants to show he made the right call

When Dalron Johnson was deciding where he was going to go to college, four voices kept popping into his head.

The voices belonged to Brian Wethers, Shantay Legans, Nick Vander Laan and Solomon Hughes, and they were singing the same tune -- Cal was the place to be.

All five guys were teammates on the LA Rockfish traveling basketball team.

Wethers, Legans and Vander Laan already had committed to play this fall at the University of California at Berkeley and Hughes already was there.

How's that for peer pressure?

Johnson eventually narrowed his choices to Cal and UNLV.

At UNLV, he thought, he'd have a chance to play immediately under coach Bill Bayno, who is trying to revive the running style of basketball synonymous with the school, and play a style that suits his game. At Cal, he'd be able to adjust to college life with some familiar faces.

In the end, Johnson ignored the voices and chose UNLV.

"They still love me," Johnson said jokingly of his former teammates. "It was a heartbreaker.

"I know we were expecting to win a championship together.

"You know, sometimes you have to make a decision with your mind and not your heart and I felt that coming here was the best decision for me.

"I like the team here. I like the coaches."

For Bayno and his assistant coaches, there's much to like about Johnson.

Johnson, the lone freshman on the Rebels this year, averaged 18.9 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots as a senior at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles.

At 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, Johnson has long arms and a similar build to his favorite NBA player, Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Bob Gibbons, editor and publisher of Bob Gibbons All-Star Publications based in Lenoire, N.C., likens Johnson to former Rebel Stacey Augmon.

"It is a coincidence," Gibbons said of the comparison. "I saw Stacey Augmon play as a high school player and what impressed me the most about him was he was a very wiry build, but he was quick, an excellent leaper and played hard defensively.

"I'm not saying Johnson's at that level, but their playing style and body build are comparable. I think Johnson is a very gifted and athletic player who should be a valuable contributor to Bill Bayno's program."

With a few weeks of practice under his belt, Johnson has started to show his worth.

Although he does need to add some muscle to his lanky frame if he wants to be a really dominant player, he looks fearless on the boards and is quick to dunk on his teammates.

So far, he also looks adept at passing the ball.

Johnson says he is an unselfish player because his goal is win games whether he is in the starting line-up or coming off the bench.

When practice is over, he often stays after to shoot free throws or jumpers.

Bayno hopes his mentality won't change.

"The thing is, he can't get satisfied with his talent," Bayno said. "God gave him an incredible amount of talent, but talent isn't going to get him over.

"A lot of kids embrace talent and forget about their work ethic. So far, he's shown he wants to win and he wants to get better."

For being only 18, Johnson also seems to have an innate sense of confidence and maturity.

In high school he earned a 3.5 grade-point average, thanks to encouragement from his mom, Brenda Pork.

Now that he's 300 miles from home, his attitude toward school hasn't changed.

"My mom made me get up and go to school whether I was sick or it rained or snowed," Johnson said. "Here you know, sometimes I don't feel like going to class, but I know I have to. It's part of being responsible."

During the end of one of the first team practices, assistant coach Max Good called out Johnson's name to shoot a pair of free throws.

If he made both, the team wouldn't have to run, but if he missed one, the team would have to run sprints.

Johnson calmly sauntered over to the charity stripe.

He made the first before missing the second.

"I knew he was gonna call me," Johnson said. "I was hoping he was gonna call me.

"Whenever I'm working on my free throws after practice, he always be talkin' trash to me, like, 'You ain't gonna make this one. You ain't gonna make that one.' He's just waiting for me to miss under pressure and I just love pressure situations.

"I'm one of those players that want to have the ball in their hands to hit the game-winning shot," Johnson said. "I love that."

All this from a kid who wanted to be a football player.

"I loved to play football, but I was always too skinny," Johnson said. "They would never let me play."

Fortunately for Rebel fans, Johnson's older brother, Darrel Pork, and family friend Tyrone Lofton taught him how to play basketball instead.

"I would love to be Freshman of the Year," Johnson said. "And if I play my game and work hard enough, hopefully that will be good enough."

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