STORY & PHOTOS BY GLENN NELSON
Friends and teammates-to-be Glory Johnson (left) and Amber Gray
The tug of war for Glory Johnson ostensibly was conducted between Tennessee and North Carolina, with the Lady Vols ultimately triumphing. In reality, it was a struggle that took place mostly in Johnson's Knoxville, Tenn., household, in the large shadow cast by the school which, emotionally and literally, was calling Johnson's name.
Arrayed in favor of the hometown Lady Vols were Johnson and her mother, Mercy. The lone dissenter was a powerful one - Johnson's father, Bassie, an engineer who desperately wanted the best possible education for his daughter. In large measure, that meant to him, according to Johnson, any school but Tennessee.
Glory Johnson is offered up
"I just had to make my parents as happy as I was about Tennessee," said Johnson, a 6-foot-3 blur of a forward ranked No. 3 in the HoopGurlz Hundred for 2008. "My mom wanted to make me happy and she supported what I wanted to do. But she also had to find a way to make my dad happy. She's the one who'll have to deal with him when I left because I'm the last of five children. Academics, for my dad, became the most important thing. He didn't play sports, so it was hard for him to relate to where I was coming from. Looking at alternatives was my way of showing my respect for him and finding a way to make myself happy."
Bassie preferred Duke or Stanford, according to Johnson, but North Carolina emerged as the compromise, strong enough academically for him and good enough athletically for her. Johnson made an official visit to UCLA and was bowled over. But the distance was too large and she felt too much more emphasis was placed on the men's program. The latter also was a minus for North Carolina; at Tennessee, of course, it's virtually the opposite.
Johnson's affection for Pat Summitt's program blazed since she made an unofficial visit during her sophomore year at the Webb School, an academically rigorous institution where she says, "you definitely cannot slack." As much as she longed to commit to Tennessee, Johnson said she dared not mention it. She is self-aware enough to recognize her stature as a recruit and the presumption that she'd play for the hometown program.
"I just loved that school, but if I said that about Tennessee, the rumors would start flying," Johnson said. "So I kept it to myself and kept watching the people there, just to make sure. ... I was sort of offended that other people didn't think I could look at other schools. That's another reason I didn't want to say anything. But, truthfully, I enjoy being here. I'm happy with what I have in Knoxville."
Glory Johnson takes punishment
Another strong factor in Tennessee's favor was Johnson's comfort with the rest of Summitt's luminary, 2008 recruiting class. Johnson played at USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival with all four other nationally ranked Vol recruits - Amber Gray, No. 4 in the HoopGurlz Hundred; Shekinna Stricklen, No. 8; Alicia Manning, No. 15, and Alyssia Brewer, No. 20. Johnson participated with Brewer and Manning, the live wire in the bunch, along with Gray, at the Nike Skills Academy.
Johnson and Gray developed a colossal rivalry on the adidas circuit and, amid a torrent of mutual respect and competition, struck up what Johnson calls a close friendship.
The other thing Johnson liked about the group, particularly when combined with the previous year's No. 1 ranked recruiting class, was the overall talent. Some have argued that Tennessee's glut of elite prospects should be a deterrent to anyone who wants to play early and often, and have an immediate impact on a program. For Johnson, there was an opposite efffect, the looming tussle for minutes slaking her ultra-competitive nature and actually becoming a positive.
"I thought about that - for a little bit," Johnson said. "Some people said I might not get any playing time, but I was looking at the competition first. If I work hard enough, I should play. Even if that's not true, I'd know I worked my hardest. I also think it's fun to go against that kind of competition. Some schools you go to, maybe you'd be the best player, and maybe you don't win but everyone loves you. That's not for me. It's not as fun when you're the only one people adore. It's a team game."
And so she made a team decision. During chapel at the Webb School on Monday, Johnson announced her commitment to Tennessee. It was, in the end, a united one in the most important place, the Johnson household.
RIM SHOTS
Dee Liles
Demauria "Dee" Liles, a 6-1 forward from Suitland, Md., verballed to Maryland from the 2007 class, but ended up at Gulf Coast Community College. Liles, who was a finalist for the USA Basketball U19 National Team, has qualified and re-committed to Maryland. Liles averaged 7.2 points as a freshman in 2006-07 to help Gulf Coast C.C. to a 27-4 record and the Panhandle Conference regular season title. ... Candace Sykes, a 5-10 guard out of Momence, Ill., and the No. 58 prospect in the HoopGurlz Hundred, has committed to Alabama. ... All the hoopla surrounding the superpower recruiting classes of Connecticut, LSU, Rutgers and Tennessee has allowed a program such as Louisville to fly in stealth mode. After adjusting our radar, we've revealed a pretty good group for the Cardinals, starting with Monique Reed, the hometown star who is ranked 41st in the HoopGurlz Hundred for the 2008 class. Coach Jeff Walz also has commitments from two other HoopGurlz Hundred prospect - point guard Tiera Stephen of Dayton, Ohio, who is ranked 68th in the class, and forward Gwen Rucker of Lexington, Ky., who is No. 90. ... Brogan Berry, who is ranked 97th in the HoopGurlz Hundred but might have the best name, is going to play at Harvard. The 5-9 point guard was Player of the Year in the Greater Cincinnati League last year. ... Brittany Pennell, a 6-0 Forward out of Magnolia High School in Anaheim, Calif., has committed to TCU. Rheina Ale, a 5-8 guard and a high-school and Cal Sparks Gold teammate of Pennell's, has verballed to San Francisco. ... Shacara Rucker, the No. 8 prospect in HoopGurlz.com's Super Sixty for 2009, had a spectacular debut for Notre Dame Prep. The 5-10 guard out of Gainesville, Ga., drilled three-pointers on four consecutive possessions, finishing with 38 points and 7-of-14 shooting from behind the stripe as NDA beat Canada's junior national team 78-70. Rucker had 21 points and Milan Germany, a top-notch point guard formerly of St. Michael Academy in New York, had nine points, six rebounds and three assists in her NDA debut, during a 78-66 loss to Monroe Community College. ... Joy Burke, a 6-5 junior post from Marcos De Niza High School in Tempe, Ariz., has been playing basketball for only a little more than three years, but is attracting a lot of attention around the country. She recently has been offered by Arizona State, Arizona, Iowa State and Santa Barbara, according to her club coach, Kenny Drake of Arizona Elite. Duke and Louisville also have expressed interest, and she has taken unofficial visits to Cal, UCLA and USC. "Joy has a chance to be a special player because she's long, athletic and has a great work ethic," Drake said. ... Tiffany Conner and Vanessa Moore are a couple of 2009 prospects to watch out of New Jersey. Conner, a strong, 5-10 guard out of Teaneck, N.J., likes Duke, George Washington, Hofstra, Indiana, Pitt, Seton Hall, UTEP and West Virginia. Moore, a 6-3 post from Sparta, N.J., is interested in Dayton, Georgetown, George Washington, Georgia Tech, Massachusetts, Rice, Seton Hall and Vanderbilt. ... Twelve of the 16 teams in the Class 1A-2A field in the State Farm Holiday Classic, Dec. 26-29, won at least a regional title in the state of Illinois last season. The tournament, played at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Shirk Center, Illinois State University’s Redbird Arena, Normal Community High School, Normal West High School and Bloomington Central Catholic High School, features eight teams in the Class 3A-4A field that won at least a regional title. "We feel our girls’ side of the tournament compares with any in the country based on the competition offered and the facilities we play in,” Classic VP Dave Oloffson said. “Coaches like this experience because it prepares their team for the state tournament, so we expect to see many of these teams return to Redbird Arena in late February to compete for their respective state titles.”
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Glenn Nelson is the founder and publisher of HoopGurlz.com. He is a member of the McDonald's All-American Selection Committee and SportsShooter.com (Click for Porfolio [1]), Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, National Press Photographers Association, Online News Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Glenn also founded and coached the Dragons and Northwest HoopGurlz select girl's basketball teams and previously was the editor-in-chief at Scout.com and a longtime, national-award-winning basketball columnist and writer for The Seattle Times. His work has appeared in several books and national magazines. He is co-author of "Rising Stars: The Ten Best Players in the NBA" (Rosen Publishing, 2002). For more on Glenn's World, click here [1]. Glenn can be reached at glenn@hoopgurlz.com [2].
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