By BYRON JONES
Staff Writer
on taking the job as the new ninth-grade basketball coach, Derrick Johnson knew he had his work cut out for him.
Johnson would be faced with the task of selecting 15 players out of 45 students who tried out for the team back in November. Obviously, every ninth-grade boy thinks he can play hoops, but basketball at Smith is a big deal. After all, the Eagles made it to the state 4-A finals two seasons agao and Johnson knew it was his job to mold a new generation of Eagles into competitive, team-oriented basketball players.
Gradually, the numbers dropped to 30 players and then stopped at 19. Four of the 19 players were kept as alternates. Selections were often difficult, but Johnson had to be careful not to make every coach's nightmare mistake: cutting the future Micheal Jordan. After all, the greatest player in the game was cut from Wilmington Laney's team when he was a sophomore only to come back with back-to-back seasons that earned him a scholarship to North Carolina. And the rest is, well, history.
As the season started for the ninth-grade players, team unity was something they needed to work on.
"One on one play, as well as selfishness, and individuality caused for our team to start 0-6," Johnson said.
Knowing that there were no all-stars on this team, Johnson, who works as an administrative assistant here at Smith, felt that hard work would be the key to his team being successful. This mindset hit home with Johnson's players right before the holiday break. While most students got in extra sleep and shopping, the ninth-grade boys' basketball time put in overtime. Ten hard practices around Christmas time prepared the Eagles for their turning point, which came during the Winston-Salem Chronicle-David Lash Invitational Tournament in Winston-Salem.
Suddenly, something clicked for Smith. First, there was a since of urgency. Then, the ninth-graders learned something about team unity. The selfishness that had been the hallmark of the six-game skid gave way to togetherness.
The combination of urgency and unity enabled Johnson's team to pull out a first-round win upset of top-seeded Mount Tabor. The Eagles would go on to place second in the invitational tournament, losing in the finals by a single basket.
"That one was tough to swallow," Johnson said. "We had played so well and it came down to the last possession. But we never got off a shot. That hurt."
Johnson walked around school the week school returned for the spring semester both proud and anxious. He was happy that the team had found itself. But he was anxious, too.
"Had we learned our lesson well enough," he questioned.
The answer was an emphatic yes.
Smith went on to win seven of its last 10 games, closing out the season with decisive victories over Southwestern Randolph and Page.
When asked who had become the leader on his basketball team, Johnson replied Ray Reid. The starting center, Reid led the Eagles in scoring, averaging 15 points per game.
When Reid was asked whether or not he felt conditioning was an important part of practicing, he simply replied:
"I think it's very important because it gets the players in the right frame of mind, better prepares us for the obstacles ahead and shows dedication to the team."
Many of those overtime holiday sessions focused on conditioning.When players were asked what they thought about their first high school hoops coach, the concensus was that he was both demanding and enthusiastic -- especially about winning.
A key to the season was Johnson focusing on defense, beginning with those tough holiday practices.
"We really started to emphasize the fundementals, denial, midpoint, helpside, pressuring the ball," he said. "It was a matter of repetition and keeping practices simple. You can't put too much in at this level."
Johnson also began to employ a fullcourt press that worked wonders down the stretch. It wrecked havoc on opposition ball-handlers and set up easy transition baskets for the Eagles.
Johnson hopes his charges learned a thing or two about unselfishness and work ethic.
�I�m so proud of how they turned their season around,� he said. �That showed me something.
�I hope they understand what hard work can do for you now.�
Of course, the whole process starts all over again next year. The freshmen will have to try out for the junior varsity next November.
First, though, there is summer team camp at Old Dominion University and a chance to get a leg up on intra-school competition in what clearly is one of the hotbeds of high school basketball in this state. There are 30 spots available for the varsity and JV players. Summertime basketball often determines who the pretenders are and who the genuine ballplayers are.
No matter what happens by the end of cuts next November, Johnson and his players will not soon forget what they accomplished during the 1996-97 season.
Byron Jones is a junior honors student at Ben L. Smith.
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