From Wilson to Cameron

Pick-up basketball games in Wilson Recreation Center will never be the same.

Patrick Johnson, a 6-foot-9, 225 pound walk-on for the basketball team, was well known in Wilson and Brodie where the Grady High School graduate was a fixture until this fall. He was not necessarily the most talented player on the court, but he was certainly the most dominant. His height was something that no other intramural Blue Devil could match, defend or forget.

Perhaps it is poetic justice, then, that Johnson is now a member of the nation's top college basketball program, the lineup of which includes seven McDonald's All-Americans.

"It's definitely a huge change," Johnson said. "It's obviously a completely different level of competition. But you kind of get used to it after a while."

With the exception of his ninth grade recreational-league team, Johnson has never played organized competitive basketball; no high school ball, no AAU leagues, no basketball camps. In fact, Johnson originally came to Duke intending to play baseball. A highly regarded pitcher who was named All-City in Atlanta his junior and senior seasons, he left Duke's baseball team after the second week of practice last spring.

"I just wanted to be a student for a while," Johnson said. "I didn't know if such a commitment to doing athletics and stuff was what I wanted to do."

His mother noticed that Johnson just was not into baseball, and that his mind was on other things--academics, adjusting to college, and apparently, basketball.

"I think he had the impression at that point what the academic workload was going to be," his mother Susan Brooks said. "And that was a big, big question mark; and the time commitment [for baseball] was a concern, too."

Johnson took the message to heart, and worked hard all summer, both in the weight room and on the basketball court. His determination amazed his parents, as he woke early every day to run on his high school's track before going to the local YMCA to play ball and lift weights.

"It was incredible, it was like nothing I'd ever seen him pursue before..." Brooks said. "We sat down and talked about the fact that he wanted to put on 10 pounds if he could, so he and I worked out a training table arrangement so he could have four or five meals a day.... Whatever it was that motivated him to do it was just enormous because he was completely dedicated to the task."

And when Johnson returned to campus in August, he participated in pick-up games with the varsity team, impressing coaches and players alike. After a week or so of practice, the coaches told Johnson he was officially a member of the team.

"The Monday night he called us... he was just delirious," Brooks said. "Our friends who are ACC basketball fans understand the magnitude of it. It's Duke-it's like walking onto the Yankees."

However, Johnson's nonchalant recollection of the past six months contrasts the enormity of his accomplishment. He has acclimated himself well to the college game, and credits his teammates and coaches for bringing him along well. Yet he is still able to see the obvious difference between him and his teammates.

"It's funny, they'll be talking about AAU circuits or what went on in their [college] visits...I actually don't have any experience with that," Johnson said. "But we're all on the same team."

And though Johnson probably will not contribute much on the court for the Blue Devils, his mother's reaction to Johnson's making the team provides perspective on the importance of her son's achievement and is indicative of the true value of college athletics.

"He's very realistic about his own role...but it's such a thrill for him, and he's enjoying every second of it I think, and that's wonderful to watch," she said. "And to see him set this goal and do it--as a parent you can't even imagine getting to that place. You always think you're kids are wonderful but you never imagine they can accomplish the things that he has accomplished."