Dec. 30, 2004
Beyond The Mic – Magnificent Mel
Leave it to a force other than gravity to ground Melanie Johnson.
In 2003, only four one-thousandths of a point – .004 – separated the high flyer from qualifying academically for her true freshman season.
Johnson swung by the basketball offices nearly every day, hoping for the best. When the good news never came, the 6’2″ forward redshirted, taking the setback in stride.
“I knew it was going to be hard not being able to play, but I couldn’t complain,” Johnson said.
So far, she has made it worth the wait.
In her first 10 games, Johnson has treated the Gamecocks to an athletic buffet. Consider Florida A&M, when she scored 15 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, had 7 steals, dished out 4 assists, and blocked 4 shots. For an encore, she posted a 15-14-5-5-3 performance against South Carolina State Wednesday, then came back to have a career night against Coastal Carolina by scoring 18 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, dishing out seven assists, getting five steals and blocking four shots.”
“She is a tremendous athlete. She is getting so much better and her confidence is growing every game,” head coach Susan Walvius said last week.
Feats of athleticism are nothing new to the former Barnwell Warhorse. Johnson, whose father made parts for Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and whose mother taught high school history, learned basketball on a grassy backyard court with her older brother Wade, Jr.
“It was grass at first, but we played so much it turned into dirt,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s ability soon outgrew her surroundings. By fourth grade, she was one of two girls in an 80-player Barnwell recreational league. By the end of the season, Johnson made the all-star team. In junior high, loitering around after eighth-grade gym class, she rose up and touched the rim.
But Johnson’s game – and her legend – reached new heights in high school. While her brother stood witness inside an empty Barnwell High School gymnasium, the 6’2″ Johnson dunked.
“We were playing around one day and he said, ‘If you could palm the ball, then you can dunk it.’ So I palmed it and I ran up there and just grabbed it,” Johnson said.
It befits a player who shares the same initials (M.J.) and number (23) as another high-flyer.
It seems the sky for Mel Johnson is truly the limit.
The Tip Drill
Traveling Violations:
A pair of Gamecocks coaches, and Pennsylvania natives, were caught up in the Philadelphia travel nightmare from last weekend. Assistant Linda-Hill MacDonald was separated from her luggage on a US Airways flight to Charlotte. Not only did she arrive in Columbia 12 hours later than expected, her bags arrived in Columbia a day after she did.
Assistant coach Michelle Marciniak had her Comair flight from Allentown cancelled because of a massive computer glitch. Marciniak drove two hours to Newark to catch a flight to Washington-Dulles, only to learn that her bags were on another plane. Marciniak’s plane waited an hour-and-a-half on the runway – enough time for her to watch “Van Helsing” with another passenger – while her bags were moved.
Blockout:
Lakesha Tolliver ranks third in the nation in blocks per game (2.9) for all freshmen. What the numbers don’t reflect, though, is that Tolliver only plays 12 minutes per game. Averaged over a full 40 minutes, Tolliver would rank first in the nation in blocks, hands down.
Blocks per 40 minutes (as of 12/20/04):
1. Lakesha Tolliver, University of South Carolina – 9.66 blocks/40 min. 2. Ashley Sparkman, Northwestern St. (La.) – 8.90 blocks/40 min. 3. Alison Bales, Duke – 7.16 blocks/40 min. 4. Hollie Tyler, Montana – 6.77 blocks/40 min. (national leader in bpg)
In consecutive games against Birmingham-Southern and South Carolina State, Tolliver backed up that stat, swatting an astounding nine shots in 13 minutes.
Finally…
Are you sick of year-end lists? Good, me too. See you in ’05.
Andy Demetra is in his second season as the voice of Gamecock Women’s Basketball on 1320 AM WISW.
