High School and College Basketball
Johnson attended Central High School in Akron, Ohio, where he was an All-State high school player, and did reasonably-well in the classroom, too. Among his teammates was Nate Thurmond, a future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame center. Despite Johnson's clears talent and athletic ability, he had just a few college athletic scholarship offers, which was fairly common for black high school athletes in the late 1950s.
Johnson had enrolled at hometown Akron, but left before basketball started and joined a nearby AAU club. While playing for the AAU team in 1960-61, he was spotted by a former teammate of first-year Idaho head coach Joe Cipriano, and Johnson accepted Idaho's scholarship offer. He played a year at Boise Junior College to get his grades up as a sophomore, and averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds a game. Johnson then transferred up north to the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1962. The Vandals had a .500 season at 13-13 in 1961-62, and the addition of Johnson made an immediate impact as they won their first five games and were 12-2 through January. The Vandals were actually undefeated through January with Johnson playing: due to NCAA rules (junior college transfer originally enrolled at a four-year school) at the time, he was allowed to play regular season games only, not tournaments. The Vandals went 1-2 without him at the Far West Classic in late December in Portland, and the victory was a one-pointer over WSU. A week earlier with Johnson, the Vandals routed the Cougars by 37 points in Moscow.
Johnson became known as "Honeycomb," a nickname Cipriano gave him because of his sweet play. As an experienced junior, Johnson averaged 19.0 points and 20.3 rebounds per game during the 1962-63 season, leading independent Idaho to a 20-6 record, their best in 36 years. With Johnson and leading scorer Chuck White, the Vandals were at their best in their main rivalries, 4-0 versus Oregon, 4-1 versus Palouse neighbor Washington State, and 1-1 against Washington. Idaho's primary nemesis was Seattle University, led by guard Eddie Miles, who won all three of its games with the Vandals. Idaho lost its only game with Oregon State at the Far West without Johnson, but won all three with Gonzaga, for a 9-3 record against its four former PCC foes and a collective 12-6 against the six Northwest rivals. Attendance at the Memorial Gym was consistently over-capacity, with an estimated 3,800 for home games in the cramped facility.
Johnson and the Creighton center Paul Silas waged a season-long battle to lead the NCAA in rebounding. Silas claimed this by averaging 20.6 per game, 0.3 per game more than Johnson's average. Johnson also set the UI record with 31 rebounds in a game against Oregon. The Ducks' head coach Steve Belko, a former Vandal, called Johnson a "6'6" Bill Russell," and "the best ball player one of my teams has ever played against..."
- team photo of 1962-63 Idaho Vandals - Gus Johnson #43
Despite their 20-6 record, the Vandals were not invited to the post-season. The 1963 NCAA Tournament included only 25 teams: Oregon State and Seattle U. were selected from the Northwest. The 1963 NIT invited only twelve teams, with none from the Mountain or Pacific time zones. If the Vandals had been invited, Johnson again would not have been eligible to participate.
Johnson turned professional after his only season at Idaho, and Cipriano moved on to coach at Nebraska. Without Johnson (and White), the Vandals fell to 7-19 in 1963-64 and were 4-6 in the new Big Sky Conference, fifth place in the six-team league. They had a dismal 3-14 record through January and lost every game against their Northwest rivals, a collective 0-10 vs UW, WSU, UO, OSU, Seattle U., and Gonzaga.
Following his professional career, Johnson returned to Moscow to help commemorate the first basketball game in the newly-enclosed Kibbie Dome, held on January 21, 1976. He participated in a pre-game alumni contest between former players of Idaho and Washington State.
Read more about this topic: Gus Johnson (basketball)
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