BENTON (WSIL) -- Reece Johnson always wanted to play division one basketball.
But he received no D1 offers on his basketball merits alone.
The Benton High grad is a 4.0 student.
He applied for the SIU Chancellor scholarship and got it.
A full ride accademically.
Johnson's grades opened a door to walk on to the SIU men's basketball team.
A door that otherwise was not open.
"You have to look at with the perspective, everyone has to stop playing basketball at some point in their life so for me going to ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois was, first of all it's to get a four year degree," Johnson said. "Thankfully I've been blessed to get this chancellor's scholarship that will help me do that and basketball that kind of came along with it."
I caught up with Johnson at Rich Herrin gym in Benton and while I threw Reece questions, he knocked down shots. I started with how excited are you to get an opportunity to walk on to a division one program?
"It's definitely going to be different than if I pursued the junior college route and walking on there it's definitely going to be more of a work in progress and it'll be a process and it'll be a multi-year process but hopefully after 3 and 4 years of being in the program and getting my body in shape and adjusting to the speed of the game and the physicality of the game hopefully I can better our team as well as better myself."
After knocking down another shot, Reece continued to talk about the opportunity in front of him and I continued to send questions his way.
It's going to be an uphill battle, you're there to help those guys better, who knows it might open a door, have you thought about that?
"Yeah and for sure I'll be on the white squad, the practice squad a lot of the time but they treat me just the same. They treat the best player on the team and the least talented player on the team, the exact same."
Are you ready to put in the work?
"Of Course. Our practice gear this summer it says TGHT and that stands for the game honors toughness and toughness, that's not just on the court, that's in the weight room, that's in the class room and that's everywhere so working hard is not going to be an option going to play for Coach Mullins at SIU. That's for sure."
Do you think being strong from the outside wil help?
"Yeah, you have to be able to shoot the three if you want to practice or play."
SIU awarded 34 Chancellor’s Scholarships this year. More than 450 high school students competed this year in a selection proces. It's the most prestigous award at ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois Carbondale.
"It's been a journey, it's been a process and it hasn't been clear cut from the beginning but everything has fallen into place and I guess that's how God wanted it to work out for me."
Johnson could've been a division one athlete if he focused on cross country, but his heart was with basketball.
"Running for Coach McLain I felt like I was running for division one cross country program the last two years and that was a journey itself and it was so fun running for Coach McLain. He's a great Coach and one of the great running minds in the sport but basketball is really my first love and I think my dad helped instill that into me. Just growing up watching basketball on Saturday mornings, watching all day Saturday I guess but shooting on the mini hoop when I was little I would watch college games and now its a dream come true."
It turns out Johnson's high school colors match that of Saluki athletics.
"You mentioned the colors. That's a big part. I definitely did not want my mom to have to change her wardrobe from the maroon after moving here a couple of years ago."
And to top things off, Johnson played high school basketball that's home to a coaching legend.
"It's pretty special and the reason I say that is, you look up and see the banners, it starts in 1928 but when we really get into the 1960's, 70's and 80's, that's the Rich Herrin era. Rich is a legend. The Saluki uniforms, they have the Rich Herrin patch so it's pretty special and neat to see the translation from Benton to Carbondale and how everybody has so much respect for him because, the place is named after him. This is the place that Rich built, that's no doubt."
"Rich Herrin, he kind of created a pipeline back in the 80's. I think it's exciting, not just for me but for the community of Benton to kind of get that pipeline back. I think it'll be exciting for ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Illinois basketball to have some local kids on the team again and I'm all about helping the team and I think if we can help draw a bigger crowd, home crowd is definitely on our side and that can help us win games that's just one more thing that can help the team."
