The 23 games Andy Johnson missed last season were as painful as the wrist injury that kept him off the basketball court.
Cooper’s senior guard/forward is taking out any lingering frustration on the Jaguars’ foes.
Through nine games, he leads the Jaguars with 25.1 points a game – good for 14th in the state – and rebounds with 7.4. He’s also hit 54.5% from the field (including 37.3% of his 3-pointers) and 77.8% of his free throws.
Tim Sullivan is the only coach Cooper’s ever had since the school opened in 2008. He hasn’t compiled a Jaguar all-star list, but he’s certain Johnson is in the conversation.
“I think, all said and done, Andy’s going to be one of the best to play for us,” Sullivan said. “I know we’ve had some talented young men come through our program, but Andy’s ability to do what he does at his size, at 6-5, it just really stands out.
“… He doesn’t get hurt his junior year and sits basically his whole junior year out, he probably shatters our record books.”
In 53 games over three-plus seasons, Johnson has scored 669 points, averaging 12.6 a game.
“He’s a good player,” Simon Kenton coach Trent Steiner said. “It’s been fun to watch him grow up as a young man and be successful. I know how hard he’s worked.”
‘Pretty soft’
Johnson credits Newport-based trainer Jordan Nevels for his improved strength and fitness two summers ago.
“I thought I was pretty soft, to be honest,” Johnson said. “(Nevels) just put my body on a whole different level. I’m way more athletic and everything.”
Johnson said he’s more aggressive on the court – a skill he learned this summer with Hoop Dreams, a Lexington-based AAU team.
“I knew I could score the ball, I knew I could do a lot of things well, but I didn’t really implement that in school ball,” he said.
On Nov. 28, 2023, Cooper beat St. Henry, 63-49, behind Johnson’s 30 points. Five days later, he scored 20 against Hayes High (Delaware, Ohio) when he met a Pacer defender at the rim in the fourth quarter.
“He got to the rim and finished an and-1, but when he got hit, he went to the ground, cracked his left wrist,” Sullivan said.
Johnson recalled the aftermath.
“I just remember my friend having to drive me home because I couldn’t even put my wrist on a steering wheel,” he said.
The result: Johnson didn’t return until Feb. 17, 2024, when he scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds in a 71-50 win over Grant County.
Cooper opened this season Dec. 10 with a 51-41 win over the Pioneers – a game in which Johnson scored a career-high 36 points on 15-of-22 (68.2%) shooting from the field (including 2-of-6 of 3-pointers) and 4-of-5 of his free throws.
If you have time to use your smartphone’s calculator app, you’ll see that Johnson scored just over 70% of the Jaguars’ points.
Steiner perhaps didn’t know Johnson missed Cooper’s single-game scoring record by one point – 2017 alumnus Sean McNeill scored 37 in an 85-83 overtime win over Campbell County on Feb. 10, 2017.
“He didn’t miss many shots, that’s what I remember,” Steiner said.
Johnson was not upset he missed the record.
“I don’t even think about that,” he said.
Johnson followed the Simon Kenton win with 30 points and 14 rebounds against South Oldham on Dec. 15 (a 73-68 loss), 22 points and four boards against Newport Central Catholic (a 67-59 win), and 33 points and 11 rebounds in a 67-49 win over Dayton (Ohio) Northridge.
In Cooper’s first nine games (the Jaguars are 5-4 coming into Friday’s weather-permitting 33rd District game at Conner), Johnson has scored over 20 points in six – 25 against Frederick Douglass, 21 against Woodford County and 27 against defending Seventh Region champion Louisville Trinity are the others.
‘Kind of funny’
Amanda and Tony Johnson adopted Andy as a four-week-old infant. They are hard to miss – Amanda and Tony Johnson, are each at least a foot shorter.
“It’s kind of funny,” he said.
Johnson has signed with Illinois-Chicago; he chose the Flames over Indiana State, Marshall, North Florida and Eastern Kentucky. He plans to study finance and wants to start his own business.
Until then, Johnson’s goal is to spend as much time as he can with the Jaguars.
“I love this team,” he said. “… The record doesn’t show it, but we’re gonna put the state on notice for sure.”