We are profiling each member of the 2012-13 Creighton Bluejays men’s basketball team. Check in weekdays leading up to Creighton’s regular season opener against North Texas (November 9) for an introduction to this season’s Bluejays, from freshmen to seniors.
Nevin Johnson (#24 / G/F / 6-5 / 200 lbs. / RFr.)
Check out our photo gallery of Nevin Johnson (courtesy Adam Streur and Mike Spomer for WBR)
After spending a full season in the Creighton basketball program as a redshirt, freshman Nevin Johnson is ready to see the court. Creighton fans got glimpses of the 6-5 guard/forward from Houston during last season’s exhibition game against Rockhurst and in some of the Metro Summer Basketball League action. And it was hard for some Bluejays fans to watch the team’s inadequacies on defense during a 29-win season in 2011-2012 and not wonder if Johnson would have provided a spark defensively. But with a year of added strength and adjustment to the speed of the college game, Johnson has prepped for the role of athletic perimeter defender.
While fellow class of 2011 member Avery Dingman played in all 35 of Creighton’s games last season, Johnson watched in fresh Nike warm-ups. The two players are similar in build, but Dingman’s offensive game was more refined than Johnson’s upon arrival at CU. In 2012-2013, the combination of the sophomore Dingman and the redshirt freshman Johnson gives the coaches two options for a long, quick defender to guard the perimeter.
That’s not to say Johnson can’t score. He has great leaping ability (as shown during the last two Bluejay Madness slam dunk contests) and can slash to the basket. And he worked on his perimeter shooting during his redshirt year, improving enough that some people close to the program considered him to be one of the best players on the floor during a given practice.
In essence, though, practice is all that Johnson’s had so far at Creighton. In about two weeks Bluejays fans will see what he can do against North Texas.
We caught up with Johnson at Creighton’s Media Day: