UK Athletics Photo
When Jasper Johnson was playing in various all-star showcases across the county, his father, Dennis Johnson, always reminded him of one important thing to remember off the court.
“If you want to be treated like a professional, dress like a professional,” Dennis Johnson told the Kentucky signee. “When those people see you, it’s very important the perception of what they see. We talk a lot about looking people in the eye and being strong with the way you communicate.”
At the Nike Hoop Summit, Dennis Johnson said they “met a ton of influential people” and that “tons” of NBA scouts got to see him play in the pregame scrimmages.
“I met some GMs (NBA general managers) and scouts. Those guys really honed in on practice, so again I reminded him to play and act like a professional. He did a good job of doing his work before practice and after practice. Those guys like to see you in the gym working. I told him they have to see you have a business approach and that you show them one day you want to be a professional. I thought he did a really good job of that at all the games he played in.”
Jasper Johnson’s nature has not always been to be overly outgoing. His father was the same way when he played football at Kentucky and then in the NFL.
“Sometimes you have got to put yourself out there a little bit more. He’s done a better job at doing that, just to promote himself and show he is more mature. That’s just part of growing up and learning the process,” Dennis Johnson said.
9 Responses
Shouldn’t we let this kid be a kid for a while? We are getting closer and closer to the end of college athletics and have kids going to pro farm teams straight out of high school. Very few have any interest in academics. Is that a condemnation on the influence of professional sports or on the high cost with little reward in getting a college degree?
Respectfully, I think what Jasper’s Dad was counseling Jasper on was sage advice. The norm for "kids" today is to act entitled, disrespectful, egocentric and anything but responsible. The "kid" that shows good manners, respect for himself and others and a good work ethic will stand out in any workforce. Couple that with real talent and you’ve got a winning combination for whatever goals the young man has.
Well said John. I think he did exactly what you said
Jasper is like a deer with sneakers on.
I think Jasper Johnson is a 2 and done. He will play behind Oweh and learn from him. He needs to teach him how to play defense because oweh is incredible at defense. I’d say he needs to gain about 10 pounds of muscle and just play team ball. If it comes to you and your open let it rip. Jasper is a streaky shooter but when he’s on he’s very hard to handle. He has a different game then I’ve ever seen. Its hard to determine how good he really is but we will see. I think he averages about 7-10 ppg and ends up being our 6th man. His second year Chandler and Johnson will be unstoppable. I just hope it happens. I can see both of them averaging about 15-16 ppg. Garrison will also have a monster senior year. I think he stays another year. JQ will be gone. Jelavic will also be hard to stop his sophomore year. Mo-D is a 4 year guy as well. I think he stays another year. 26-27 we will be even better than this year but we have a damn good team this year! We can win it all this year and next year.
Returned to Lexington for dedication of our new fraternity house and the LSU game. On the first play DJ absolutely crushed the Tiger RB – game over ! Memorable weekend for sure !!!!
He crushed a few during his time at UK for sure Paul
DJ was good even as a freshman. I remember those 2 sacks against Vanderbilt he had as a freshman. Then he absolutely dominated from his true sophomore year on forward. He was a monster when we actually played 2 defensive ends. I miss the 4-3 defense. I miss having 4 down lineman rushing the quarterback I just think you get much more pressure on the run and pass attack.
Yes he was from the very start