Then there’s the acquisition of former Cats’ superstar DerMarr Johnson being named director of player development for the program. DerMarr Johnson who once showed up on campus at UC prior to the 1999-00 season as the Parade Magazine National High School Basketball Player of the Year Award winner. A 6’9″ guard/forward who seemingly had no weakness on the basketball court, and was dubbed a “Diaper Dandy” by ESPN’s Dick Vitale on his way to winning the 1999-00 Conference USA Freshman of the Year Award. Johnson averaged 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists on a team many observes consider to be the most talented squad in Bearcats basketball history that season.
Johnson teamed up with many legendary Bearcats players on that team, none more famously than consensus National College Basketball Player of the Year, and eventual No.1 overall pick of the 2000 NBA Draft Kenyon Martin. Johnson and Martin helped lead the Cats’ to a 28-2 regular season record. The Cats’ spent 12 weeks ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, and were predicted by many pundits as heavy favorites to appear in the Final Four and/or win the National Championship. Unfortunately team captain and All-American Kenyon Martin would suffer a broken leg in the Conference USA Tournament quarterfinals derailing those dreams. Johnson and the Cats’ played on, eventually being upset by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Considered a lottery pick for the upcoming 2000 NBA Draft, who would have still been so had he entered the previous year’s draft directly out of high school in 1999. Johnson decided to skip his remaining eligibility and enter the draft following his freshman season. He was selected No. 6 overall by the Atlanta Hawks, and was progressing nicely as a pro before a car accident in 2002 left him with four cracked vertebrae in his neck. Johnson was nearly paralyzed, but fought back to play seven seasons in the NBA, several seasons overseas with multiple international clubs and most recently in Ice Cube’s professional Big 3 League. Johnson came back to UC as an assistant coach under former head coach Mick Cronin, eventually along the way also completing his undergraduate degree in May of 2019. To sum it up whether Johnson is helping develop current Cats’ players or speaking with perspective recruits and their families in his new role. He’s been everywhere they could dream of wanting to go both as a student-athlete and as a professional basketball player.
Wes Miller will begin his tenure as head coach of the UC men’s basketball program this autumn, in what hopefully amounts to a normal college experience while the country slowly returns to normalcy following the covid-19 pandemic trending towards being under control. But, he will not do so alone and bringing aboard two guys who were directly a part of Bearcats Basketball at its finest can only be an added advantage. Washington and Johnson are excellent additions to the staff and both have vested interest in seeing their alma mater return to its rightful place amongst the elite programs in college basketball. All of Bearcat Nation, is hoping a little home cookin’ goes along way in the quest of bringing the Cats’ back to respectability.
