STARKVILLE — The number is imposing.
Diamber Johnson doesn’t remember the shot that helped her eclipse the 2,000-point mark in high school, but she knows it came in the “Big House,” or the Mississippi Coliseum, in Jackson.
Johnson also doesn’t know where she will hit her next milestone.
Johnson enters the Mississippi State women’s basketball team’s against LSU at 6 tonight at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center 11 points shy of 1,000 career points at MSU. Johnson isn’t concerned about when or if she becomes the 19th player in program history to accomplish the feat. Instead, Johnson is focused on helping MSU (13-10, 3-7) snap a four-game losing streak and getting it back on track to realize its goal of returning to the NCAA tournament.
Johnson can’t claim she doesn’t know how many points she has, like she did when she was in high school. The fact Johnson is on the verge of reaching 1,000 points speaks to how far she has come in the past two seasons. The 5-foot-7 point guard from Pontotoc High School arrived at MSU with a scorer’s background after pouring in 2,001 points, grabbing 430 rebounds, handing out 367 assists, and making 371 steals in four years at the school.
“I didn’t run the point, but a lot of stuff was run for me,” Johnson said. “I knew I was scoring a lot because my whole senior year I had two people on me. I really had a big offensive mind-set in his school.”
With guards Marneshia Richard, Alexis Rack, Mary Kathryn Govero, and others already at MSU, Johnson didn’t think she would have to step in right away and light up the scoreboard and took on a different role as ballhandler and passer off the bench. She scored just 88 points (2.8 points per game) in 32 games as a freshman, and just 139 in 34 games (five starts) as a freshman.
“I was happy,” Johnson said. “It felt good to have other people who could play around you and I didn’t have to do so much. I took on that role happily. It took me a while to get out of it and to be what the team needed me to be.”
After averaging 4.1 ppg. as a sophomore, Johnson knew she was going to have to do more as a junior, especially considering MSU lost a talented senior class that included Rack, Armelie Lumanu, Chanel Mokango, and Tysheka Grimes that led the program to its first appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
Govero watched Johnson make that transformation into a scorer and a team leader. Last season, Govero and Johnson teamed as one of the Southeastern Conference’s most potent backcourts and combined to average 25.5 points per game in a 13-17 season.
Govero and Johnson also teamed in one of the more recognizable moves in recent MSU women’s basketball history. Govero and Johnson developed the habit of getting running starts, leaping, and bumping hips with each other following good plays by the Lady Bulldogs. Govero said she doesn’t remember how the move got started, but she said they did it before every game. The most memorable came following a 71-63 victory against the University of Texas in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 21, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio.
“I guess it got started because Diamber was the only freshman in her class and the majority of the team were juniors and had their own pregame things, so that became ours,” Govero said.
Johnson has since developed a habit of saluting classmate Danielle Rector after she is introduced before every game.
Govero isn’t surprised Johnson has transitioned into a role of team leader. She said Johnson came to MSU determined to work hard and immediately was put to the test when she had to guard the high-scoring Rack in practice. She said Johnson wasn’t an aggressive scorer in her first two seasons, but she re-discovered the scoring touch she had in high school last season.
“Diamber’s junior year she took on a new role,” Govero said. “She went from being the sixth man to being a key leader. We lost a lot of scoring and she took a load upon herself to be not only a distributor, but (also) to be a more conscious and confident scorer. I think the experience she got her first two seasons prepared her and gave her the confidence she now plays with to be an aggressive scorer, and leader for her team.”
Earlier this season, Johnson glowed when she was told she had passed Rack and moved into 10th place on the program’s all-time assists list. She joked she was going to have to call Rack to give her the news. With 331 career assists, Johnson is tied for eighth in program history with Richard. If she maintains her average of 3.9, which is fifth in the SEC, she will move into sole possession of seventh place.
Johnson also is setting the scoring pace. Her team-high 16.4 ppg. is second in the SEC. She has scored 20 or more points nine times this season, which is the first time a MSU player has done that since Rack did it in 2009-10. She also scored 20 or more points in three consecutive games earlier this season for the first time since former All-American Tan White did it in 2004-05.
MSU coach Sharon Fanning-Otis said Johnson’s progression is what every coach hopes to see from a senior. She said Johnson has to continue to want shots and to be aggressive looking for them because her teammates get more opportunities when she plays with that attitude.
“I don’t think Diamber on a consistent basis knows or feels, she may know, but I don’t think she really feels it yet on how good she can be from a scoring standpoint,” Fanning-Otis said. “It takes a tremendous amount of effort to do that at this level. She has had to adjust to the college game, the competition level on her team, and to a position change. She was always a 1-2 guard, but she always had people who helped her. … The first couple of years, I think she was satisfied or settled playing behind (others) and did not anticipate I could be better. She was being molded into her role. That is where she needs a punch right now. You can’t be satisfied with getting just that 1,000 or the team, yeah it improved this year, but we didn’t quite (get there). You have to have a punch right now to make it happen, or attempt to make it happen.”
Johnson admits she has struggled at times balancing the responsibilities of passing and shooting. She said she never felt like she has shot the ball too much, and often has been encouraged to shoot it even more. She said she never imagined reaching 1,000 career points in college, and hopes to continue to improve and to become even more comfortable as a scorer.
Johnson isn’t sure where those skills will help her go. She said she would love to play professional basketball after she graduates, but she isn’t going to let those plans distract her from the goal at hand because she wants to help build MSU’s win total into an equally imposing number.
“Every year I have grown more,” said Johnson, who has come off the bench the past two games. Her status for tonight’s game is a game-time decision. “I have always been a funny, outgoing person, but I have never really let people in. The more years I have been here, the more I have gotten closer with my teammates and I feel more of the need when things are going wrong to do things for them because they are the ones who matter to me at the end of the day.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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