Gene Keady came in after it was all over and the Penn State men's basketball team had fallen to Purdue 62-47 on Wednesday night. The legend didn't just watch Purdue's best 40 minutes of basketball in his 24 years as head coach, but he entered the press conference in the Bryce Jordan Center after adding yet another win to the 503 already under his belt.
Then Keady did the normal song and dance. He told the media what the Boilermakers did right and what they did wrong, what's to be improved and what's to come. Then something slipped from the old coach's mouth that might have taken everyone in the room a minute to digest.
A reporter asked Keady how he would rank Penn State's sophomore forward Aaron Johnson among other competitors in Div. I men's basketball.
The Legend's reply: "The best."
No hesitation. No doubt. The best.
Make no mistake. He didn't say that Johnson was the best basketball player he's ever seen. He didn't praise his post play, shooting or defense.
He might have said those aspects of Johnson's game were adequate. But Keady praised HoJo's spirit and pride -- the two intangibles Johnson makes tangible in every minute of every game he plays.
Watching Johnson rebound is a treat. For every chance an opponent -- or even a teammate, for that matter -- has at the ball, it seems that Johnson has three.
He's not taller and I can assure you that his vertical isn't higher. He just wants it more. It just looks like he thinks he has a God-given right to the rebound.
And then there are those awkward moments when HoJo gets the same amount of respect any stocky, lumbering power forward gets when he has the ball at the top of the 3-point arc -- none.
Defenders back away, calling him out. If he shoots from there, he can't get the rebound. Johnson's free throw resembles Shaq's, so his three-pointer must be worth a laugh. It's not a pretty looking jumper, but HoJo's pure desire gets the ball to schwack through the rim. There's a special string Johnson can pull when he releases from deep, and he calls it confidence.
On Wednesday, he hit two from downtown (OK, so one of them only counted for two because his foot was on the line). But Johnson's true three-pointer was a buzzer-beater at the end the first half. He literally robbed Purdue of the momentum it had just created on a three David Teague hit with just four seconds remaining. The crowd in the BJC stood and cheered as HoJo trotted off into the locker room without any celebration that would show up his opponents.
The Lions came back after halftime and fought hard. They even tied the game with just over 10 minutes to go. Johnson finished the night with a career-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. None of it mattered, though. The Lions still lost.
When the heart of the Nittany Lions basketball team entered the press conference after the game, he didn't care at all about his double-double.
Johnson wanted the media to write three things about him and his on-court play:
He considers himself a starter, but will fill any role that coach DeChellis needs him in.
He won't mind if he doesn't score a point in a game the Lions win because rebounds are the only stat that might mirror how hard he played.
And he's going to work as hard as he can every single night.
It's so refreshing to cover an athlete who loves this game. One that tells you how fun it is and how the business aspect prevails all too often with other players.
It should give Penn State fans pride to know that Johnson arrived without a scholarship and worked so hard that former coach Jerry Dunn said he could walk on to the team last year.
Now he's on scholarship and he's not letting up at all. He still wants to be noticed and he absolutely loves to hear the "Ed Heads" cheer.
HoJo embraces the game and his team. He's cherishing everything about basketball that LeBron James chose to forego.
Johnson won't ever play in the NBA, but he's not going to let one minute of this experience pass him by.
He's not even a big name on a very small stage. Nevertheless, he's going to steal the spotlight on a handful of nights.
On Wednesday he certainly did and the Legend led the applause.
