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7. Cincinnati A promising freshman is trying to erase a soft rep at the school of hard knocks
During the week of practice leading up to the McDonald's High School
All-American game last April, DerMarr Johnson boasted to the other players about
his plans to enter the upcoming NBA draft. "Go ahead, but my dad's not
going to take you," said guard Mike Dunleavy Jr., the Duke-bound son of the
Portland Trail Blazers' coach. "He doesn't think you play hard
enough."
Ultimately Johnson decided to attend college -- for a year, at least -- and he should get an education in going all out. Bob Huggins's Cincinnati teams are perennially among the nation's leaders in blood, sweat and tears, and the appetite for hard work has probably increased, what with the Bearcats' having lost in the second round in the last three NCAA tournaments. Huggins is cautiously optimistic, however, about this team's prospects. "We're more talented than we were the last two years, but we're young, too," he says. Much of the talent is in the frontcourt, where 6'8" Kenyon Martin and 6'6" Pete Mickeal, both seniors, will wreak havoc. Martin, who already holds the school record for blocked shots, seems especially poised for an All-America-caliber year after leading the U.S. in scoring at the World University Games this summer. Most of Huggins's concerns are with the guards. "In the backcourt we're lining up kids against men," he says. Steve Logan, a turnover-prone 5'10" sophomore, will be challenged for the starting point guard spot by another precocious freshman, 6'2" Kenny Satterfield. But having the 6'9" Johnson at shooting guard will create plenty of matchup problems for foes. "He shoots three-pointers like he's flicking free throws," says UNLV assistant coach Max Good, who coached Johnson at Maine Central Institute. There's little doubt that Johnson is capable of being the difference between a Final Four appearance and another second-round exit. But only if he plays hard enough. Issue date: November 15, 1999
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