Drew Johnson is getting used to rebuilding a roster. But he would like a break from it.
“I came into a roster crisis, had to recruit a whole new team, then COVID hit, a lot of kids opted out, and I had to recruit a completely different team then, and at that time I had four seniors,” the Mississippi University for Women women’s basketball coach said Monday as he looked back on the struggles of a 3-15 season.
“I’m looking forward to us being able to get people and having a more consistent-looking roster for years to come,” he said.
That certainly was not the case during the 2021-22 season.
“We started the year with 16 kids,” Johnson said. “For various reasons we finished the year with eight, and only seven playable because one of them is a dual-sport (athlete) and softball is her main sport. So we essentially went from 16 to seven.”
Along the way there were games lost to COVID and some significant injuries to key players. The result was a season with two seven-game losing streaks, although the Owls did win two of their last three.
“It wasn’t what I expected this year to be,” Johnson said. “You can go back and read the preseason and tell that I was excited, then seeing all these things that we have no control over happen, it’s just really sobering.
“If anything, it’s taught me you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. You have to stay even-keeled the entire time no matter what’s going on. I learned a lot this year.”
Maybe. But Johnson can’t help but use the word “excited” when talking about next season.
“We return second-team All-American MG Chamberlain,” he began. “She’ll be a massive part of this thing moving forward, and she still has three years left of eligibility, at least three years, I don’t know how the COVID thing will work. On the court she’s only a freshman, and that’s a big deal. That’s a really big deal.”
Chamberlain’s story has been told before, as serious knee issues kept her off of the court for several years. She averaged 13.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. She led the Owls in 3-pointers made (admittedly not a team strong point) and shot a team-best 87.5 percent from the free throw line.
More importantly, with the graduation of first-team USCAA All-American Rokila Wallace, Chamberlain is well-suited to being the focal point of the offense.
“She gets everything,” Johnson said. “She gets the off-the-court aspect of it, she gets the work that goes in. If she continues to work the way she has been, she can be really special. At the end of the year she was playing like a first-team All-American, and I see no reason that won’t continue.”
Four freshmen also give Johnson cause for optimism. Maddie Guerin, out of North Pontotoc High School, was “probably the second-best player on the floor coming out of preseason before she hurt her elbow,” Johnson said. “And Bre Waters was going to start for us before she tore her ACL.”
Point guard Hannah Duran showed Johnson a “level of understanding and confidence” unusual for a freshman at that position, and Jaycee Haynes, a forward out of Birmingham, Alabama, has “loads of potential,” but “she was sick all year. We didn’t see her at full strength.”
While those players have solid upsides, an infusion of talent is clearly needed for the Owls to be successful at the NCAA Division III level, where they will be in 2023-24. Johnson knows what he’s looking for on the recruiting trail.
“We’re focusing on getting bigger, but also we’re focusing on adding more shooting,” he said. “You go back and look at our percentages; we shot 19 precent from 3. We’ve got to improve that. You can’t win at the college level without being able to stretch the floor.”
And while a lot of coaches of 3-15 teams might have trouble selling a school to recruits, Johnson has a couple of aces up his sleeve.
“It depends on what they want to major in, because that’s the first thing I ask,” he said. “If they are nursing or if they are one of our other biggest majors like speech pathology or education, I immediately preach how good our programs are here. The W, long before athletics was brought back, was well known for their academics, and I think that’s a selling point here, especially their nursing programs, the pre-med programs, the exercise science programs, very well respected. I sell that, and of course the price is pretty much better than any Division III you’re going to come across.”
As a public university, The W’s tuition is significantly lower than many Division III schools.
“At the max, you’re looking at 16K a year, and that’s before you take out any sort of financial aid,” Johnson said. “Those are really big selling points, especially for kids from out of state. The first thing when I tell them about the cost, they say, ‘Wow, the Division IIIs that recruited me are like $40,000 a year.’ Well, that isn’t the case here.”
That is one reason why southern-based Division III conferences didn’t welcome the Owls with open arms. Instead, they will be joining the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which has eight schools in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.
“Since we know we’re going to be in the SLIAC, I can branch out to high schools in those areas and tell them, ‘Listen, I know that we’re a few hours away from home, but we’re going to be playing at colleges in your backyard, and we’re half the cost.’
“It’s clear to me that we need to recruit at a high level and we need to play at a high level in order to be successful. The SLIAC isn’t a joke; I promise you it isn’t.”
Johnson said nine of his current players could be back next year, although he’s realistic enough to know they all won’t return. And while he has not received any commitments from recruits, he said that is typical for Division III and expects to see some in April.
“I look at both freshmen and transfers,” he said. “I’m looking to have a nice blend of age and young talent. My ideal number is around 16, so we’ve got some work to do.”
After a season in which almost everything went wrong, Johnson and the Owls are due for some good fortune. Perhaps the biggest problem the returning players will have is shaking off that 3-15 record and making a fresh start with whatever newcomers Johnson brings to Columbus.
The coach is confident they can do just that.
“I think they understand it’s a developmental process, but the big thing for them and the big thing for me is that we saw growth,” Johnson said. “If you looked at us at the end of the season, even with all of the losses, I thought we played together better than we did at the beginning.
“As a coach, and even as a player, I think that’s all you can ask for.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
READER FAVORITES
Related Photos
Junior forward MG Chamberlain is introduced with the rest of the Mississippi University for Women women's basketball team's starting lineup during a November game against Belhaven at Pohl Gym in Columbus. Chris Jenkins/The W Athletics
Join the Discussion