Gus Johnson (basketball)

Born in Akron, Ohio, Johnson was one of six children. As a teenager, Johnson frequented bars and pool halls.[6]

"Despite my ways," Johnson recalled for an article in Sports Illustrated, "I never got into any real bad trouble in Akron. I just drifted around. Nothing mattered except basketball and the Bible. I used to read the Bible all the time. I still do. I'm real big on Samson. He's helped me a lot, I suppose. He stimulates me."[6]

Johnson attended Akron Central High School, where he was an all-state player, and did reasonably well in the classroom. Among his teammates was Nate Thurmond, a future hall of fame center. Despite Johnson's clear 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 he left before basketball started and joined a nearby Amateur Athletic Union club. While playing for the AAU Cleveland Pipers of the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960,[7] he was spotted by a former teammate of first-year Idaho head coach Joe Cipriano. 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 for the Broncos.[8] Johnson then transferred up north to the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1962.[4][9] 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. Idaho was 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.[10] 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.[11] A week earlier with Johnson, the Vandals routed the Cougars by 37 points in Moscow.[12]

Johnson became known as "Honeycomb," a nickname Cipriano gave him because of his sweet play. As an experienced junior, he 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.[13] 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.[13] Attendance at the Memorial Gym was consistently over-capacity, with an estimated 3,800 for home games in the cramped facility.[14] Johnson and center Paul Silas of Creighton 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.[15] 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..."[16]

Despite their 20–6 (.769) 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.[10]

Johnson turned professional after his only season at Idaho,[4] 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.[13]

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.[17][18] He participated in a pre-game alumni contest between former players of Idaho and Washington State.[19]

Shortly before his death from inoperable brain cancer, his no. 25 was retired by the Washington Bullets on his 48th birthday.[30]

A month later he was also honored by the two college programs he played for, Boise State and Idaho, during a conference basketball game between the two teams on January 17, 1987. A crowd of 12,225 at the BSU Pavilion in Boise set a Big Sky attendance record for a regular season game, and the visiting Vandals overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to win by ten.[31] That month in a ceremony in Akron, his No. 43 was retired by Idaho, the first basketball number retired in school history.[13][32]

Before his death and reflecting on his career, Johnson had expressed that his greatest fear was that he would die and his daughters "don't even know what their daddy did."[33]

Johnson died less than four months later at Akron City Hospital on April 29, 1987, at the age of 48, and is buried at Mount Peace Cemetery in Akron. He was survived by his four daughters.[30][34]

Teammate Earl Monroe said of Gus Johnson – "Gus was ahead of his time, flying through the air for slam dunks, breaking backboards and throwing full-court passes behind his back. He was spectacular, but he also did the nitty gritty jobs, defense and rebounding. With all the guys in the Hall of Fame, Gus deserves to be there already."[35]

"I first saw Gus on television...I had never seen a player dominate a game so. Gus was the Dr. J of his time and anyone that ever had the privilege to see him play will never forget what a great basketball player Gus Johson was." – Abe Pollin – Former Owner of the Washington Bullets/Wizards Franchise.[35]

"Gus Johnson was one of the greatest players I ever played with or against," teammate Wes Unseld said. "He was a ferocious defender and rebounder, and as a young player, I was completely in awe of his ability. He was truly a star ahead of his time."[6]

"Gus was probably one of the roughest players I have ever played against. He was not a dirty player. He was one of the most tenacious competitors ever to play the game." - Dave DeBusschere.[35]

“If he played today, ol’ Gussie would be a human highlight film,” said Slick” Leonard of Johnson. “That’s what people remember the most. But there was a lot more to his game than the spectacular dunks. He was special. He could play, man.”[36]

While Johnson was at Idaho in 1962–63, he earned a reputation as a leaper of the highest order. On one evening at the "Corner Club." a tavern on north Main Street in Moscow, Johnson was challenged by its owner, Herm Goetz (1925–93), to demonstrate his outstanding jumping ability to the assembled patrons. The "Corner Club" was a modest establishment with minimal furnishings, converted to a bar in 1948 from a small white stucco chapel with hardwood floors and substantial beams on its ceiling.[37][38][39] From a standing start near the front bar, Johnson leapt to touch a spot on a beam 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m) above the floor level. The spot on the beam was marked with a ceremonial nail by Goetz, who next proclaimed that anyone who could duplicate that leap could drink for free, something that he knew was highly improbable. A 40-inch (1 m) diameter circle was painted on the floor below that beam, and any potential duplicator of the leap had to have both feet on the floor, within this circle, to ensure a standing start. The nail was measured at 11'6".[40]

Twenty-three years elapsed, with a considerable number attempts to touch Johnson's Nail, including some by the 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) Hall of Famer Bill Walton during the summer of 1984. But not even Walton, then a pro at age 31, could touch that high up ("...too much pizza and beer tonight..").[41]

That was until late January 1986, when the team bus of College of Southern Idaho, a junior college in Twin Falls, stopped in Moscow en route to a game against North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene. Joey Johnson, the younger brother of the Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson, was brought into the closed bar by his coaches for a try, before opening time. Ironically, Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson were inducted into the Hall of Fame in the same year, 2010. The 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) guard Joey Johnson had already recorded a remarkable 48-inch (1.22 m) vertical leap during basketball practice and was a 7.5" high jumper.[36]

Johnson laced up his game shoes and touched "The Nail" on his first try, but this attempt was disqualified because he did not start with both feet inside the given circle. His next attempt came from a legal static start, but was slightly short. On his third try, Johnson leaped, grabbed, and bent the legendary nail, a landmark event in local sports history. Goetz next pulled "The Nail" out of its beam, and he pounded it back in, a half inch (1 cm) higher.[41][42][43]

A 1985 graduate of Banning High School in Los Angeles, Joey Johnson led CSI to the national junior college title in 1987 and also won the national JC title in the high jump twice. He transferred to Arizona State, where his vertical leap grew to 52 inches (1.32 m) and he was known as "Jumpin' Joey." He played for the Sun Devils during the 1987–88 season, and won an elevated slam dunk contest at 11 ft 7 in (3.53 m) in 1990, earning $50,000.[44]

Following Gus Johnson's death in 1987, flowers were found hanging from The Nail.[45]

Due to road reconstruction on north Main Street (the widening and straightening of the couplet for US-95 north),[46] the entire original (west) portion of the Corner Club was demolished in January 1991.[47] Unfortunately, the condemned portion of the establishment included the original location of "The Nail." The back (east) addition, built in 1981 of cinder blocks, was left standing.[47][48][49][50] The Corner Club, at the northeast corner of "A" and Main Streets, opened for business in July 1948 and had staved off its demolition for over a decade; it was targeted for removal for the traffic revision since the late 1970s.[38][50]

In 2005, the Corner Club was listed by Sports Illustrated as one of the best sports bars in the nation.[51][52]

• Johnson was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.[23]

• In 2007, Johnson was inducted into the University of Idaho Hall of Fame.[53]

• In 2010, Johnson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

• Johnson's # 43 was retired by the University of Idaho as Johnson was honored during a game between Idaho and his other college, Boise State, in January 1987.

• Johnson's #25 was retired by the Washington Bullets on his birthday, December 13, 1986, months before his death.[23][54][35]

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com  or Basketball-Reference.com
• NBA.com – statistics – Gus Johnson
• NBA.com – Washington Wizards – history – Gus Johnson #25
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – Gus Johnson – inducted in 2010
• TheDraftReview.com – Gus Johnson's NBA Draft History Page
• Database Basketball.com – stats for Gus Johnson
• "How great was Gus Johnson?" – reprinted from 1997 article at Idaho.com
• University of Idaho – Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame – Gus Johnson
• "Basketball". Gem of the Mountains, University of Idaho yearbook. 1963. p. 248.
• Blinebury, Fran (August 5, 2010). "At last, the Hall of Fame gets a taste of 'Honeycomb'". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012.
• Cleveland.com – Stories of former NBA star Gus Johnson are no tall tales – 2010-04-09
• JockBio.com – legends – Gus Johnson – first in flight
• Video on YouTube – video – Gus Johnson Tribute
• Gus Johnson at Find a Grave