The Stories Behind Johns, Davis Becoming Impact Players in Win Over Iowa
12/7/2019 9:52:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Coaches have been telling players to feel confident ever since they rolled the balls out and organized team sports began.
But it's tough to gain confidence when you generally are on the bench and you never seem to make your mark in a game. Confidence is easy for stars, difficult for everyone else.
University of Michigan head coach Juwan Howard knows no shortcuts to seeing his players develop that, and preaches to them: "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready."
In other words, when you hear, "Next man up!" you had best be prepared to make the most of your opportunity.
Brandon Johns Jr. and Austin Davis did just that in Friday night's (Dec. 6) 103-91 win over Iowa in the Big Ten opener before a vibrant sellout crowd of 12,707 at Crisler Center. In fact, those two came off the bench to provide much of the energy their team and fans felt.
Johns (6-foot-8, 235 pounds) was a pure beast on the boards. He also added some real inside-outside scoring punch with a pair of three-pointers and a couple explosive dunks. But most importantly, the sophomore forward provided a spark while posting a career-high 12 points and equaling his top rebounding effort with eight.
Davis (6-foot-10, 250 pounds) had the best game of his college career, scoring a personal best eight points with three rebounds. The senior center was able to body up with Iowa center Luka Garza and supply some much-needed grit when starter Jon Teske was in foul trouble and backup Colin Castleton was injured before eventually returning to the game.
Howard applauded both and others in his postgame speech.
"Way to be ready, big fella!" Howard told Davis. "That's how it is when you are ready."
Davis said, "It's all about filling the role your brothers need from you. One day, it might be coming in for a few minutes and getting it done that way. Another day, it might be like tonight, and you have to be ready."
Johns Jr. (center) and Davis (right)
It was a teaching moment for Howard. When we walked back to the locker room after his press conference, Howard explained the origin of his mantra for reserves.
"I learned that when I was playing basketball," said Howard. "When I was the seventh-, eighth-, ninth-, 10th-man, I prepared myself like I was a starter. So, whenever the coach called me, I had to be ready because if I wasn't ready, coach wouldn't trust me or want to put me in the game again."
Howard was the leader of Michigan's Fab Five, an NBA first-round draft pick and a 19-year veteran of the league. He'd been an All-Star, but learned how to motivate himself in the twilight of his career, when he came off the bench.
"That happened when I was playing for Dallas and Miami," said Howard.
Now he's able to impart words of wisdom to the young men he's coaching, and seeing the results were sweet for the first-year head coach.
"Austin Davis was huge for us," said Howard. "Jon Teske got in foul trouble and I trust our bigs. Colin went out with an injury with stitches to his lip, and Austin, 'Next man up.' I'm so proud of their efforts.
"It was great to see Brandon Johns come in there and give us a huge lift. He's super-active around the offensive glass (five rebounds came there), cutting to the basket for layups and being very active on the defensive end. And then also making the outside shot. He played with a ton of confidence tonight."
Johns said of his impact: "I try to bring energy. That's my goal every game, and we needed to bounce back for sure (after a loss at Louisville on Tuesday night). I really wanted to focus on being more aggressive and contributing more to the team. I was just being out there, you know. I wanted to be there for everybody.
"Today, I just had the mindset to bring energy."
He said he realized that at Louisville, after getting five important rebounds and one basket. He could and should be able to do more to contribute to victories.
What did this performance mean to him?
"I definitely feel more confident," said Johns. "I definitely believe more in my abilities. So, now I'm just going to keep it up and bring energy to every game."
After the game, Johns pointed to Davis as the one who should lead the team in singing "The Victors." Davis shook his head and said, "You got it! You got it, B! It's you."
Johns said, "We just really love each other. We're all brothers, looking out for each other, and seeing us all work together to get this win was amazing. So, it was, 'You do it. ... No, you do it.' Austin was amazing. I thought he was a key part of this win and brought a ton of intensity. Seeing how hard he was working and coming up big was a big lift for us."
Johns Jr.
Davis said Howard's biggest impact on him has been confidence building.
"I mean, he just pushes confidence on us," said Davis. "He's incredible. He trusts in us, believes in us and puts us in the best position to win.
"He's the one down there working with us every day in practice. He's the one with the pad, banging on us. Just the knowledge that comes off him from doing that with us is incredible. That's the biggest difference."
So, Howard's also greatly impacted his actual game?
"Absolutely," said Davis.
Davis scored first on a jump shot and then going to the basket on a nice pass from guard Eli Brooks. Then came a pair of dunks off great passes from point guard Zavier Simpson.
"I've been playing with both of those guys for three years," said Davis. "We work together every day in practice, and so it's nothing new. I'm very comfortable with both of them and David (DeJulius) as well."
So, he was ready to do it in a big game. Some guys still might hiccup with the bright lights on, but Davis didn't, making four of six shots.
This is his fourth year at Michigan (Davis redshirted as a freshman) and the first time he was asked to meet the press for postgame interviews along with Johns and freshman starter Franz Wagner, who had a team-high 18 points and prompted Howard to say, "He's going to become one of the better players to play at Michigan."
What makes the stick-to-it qualities of Davis and Johns all the more impressive is that they've been stars. Both finished second in the voting for Michigan's Mr. Basketball, and it would have been easy to get discouraged by success not coming quickly in college.
Johns averaged 28.1 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks as a senior at East Lansing High, and ESPN rated him the No. 1 player in the state and No. 60 nationally.
Davis scored 1,687 points with 1,087 rebounds and 297 blocks for Onsted Community High, and grew up in a town of less than 1,000. He was the Lenawee County Player of the Year three times.
His mother, father and brother made the one-hour drive to the game as they have many times before. They usually are lucky if he gets a minute or two of playing time, but this time they got a real treat, and it could become a trend.
Davis didn't get game action in the season's first three games, but did good things with his minutes when they came against Houston Baptist and versus Iowa State in the tournament in the Bahamas.
"It's been frustrating at times," said Davis. "But it's about being positive and being happy for my brothers when they do something great."
This was his game to do something great.
When Davis and Johns came out of the game, Michigan fans filled their ears with joyous applause, the reward for "being ready" and getting results.
"It really did feel good," said Davis. "But we still had four and a half minutes to play. So, we're still locked in and focused on that."
Howard reveled in seeing them succeed.
"Brandon is a worker," said Howard. "He also has the mindset of being just a giver. If you get a chance to know Brandon, he always has a smile on his face. He's always energetic, he's always dancing. If you don't like Brandon, then something's wrong with you.
"Just to see the ball go in the basket for him. But it's not just the ball going in for him, it's all the ways he affects the game, and it's great to see that, it goes in his favor tonight. I expect we're going to have many more nights like that with him."
Howard pulled him aside on the bench and shared that conversation: "I applauded him for the effort and let him know it was inspiring to see how well he competed and helped us by giving that energy we needed. I need a guy like Brandon and others to give a guy a breather here and there."
Johns played 19 minutes, while Davis got 10.
"Austin's a worker and he's also a guy who has a positive outlook on life," said Howard. "He loves working and he loves getting better, and I enjoy working with him. I'm very appreciative of the fact that we have Austin Davis on our side because he's also tough and strong, and he's a smart player, too."
Both came ready to play, and Howard is going to be much more ready to bring them off the bench next time.
