They will be there thanks in no small part to former Fairview High School standout Derek Johnson.
“Our season really turned around when we moved Derek to power forward,” Carroll head coach Gary Turlock said. “He was the catalyst for the eight-game win streak at the end of the season.”
 Submitted Derek Johnson and the Carroll College Fighting Saints will play at the NAIA national tournament starting Wednesday (today). |
Johnson, whose resume from his prep days includes two first team All State selections, a District 2-C MVP and the 2003 Sidney Herald Athlete of the Year award, appeared in all 29 regular season games for the Saints starting 19. He averaged 10.9 points per game, was tied for first on the team in steals with 41, had 126 rebounds, four assists, six blocks and shot 46 percent from the field. For his efforts, Johnson was named to the All-Frontier Conferences second team.
As is so often the case with great athletes, statistics do not tell Derek Johnson’s entire story. “Derek is one of the toughest guys I have coached, the way he overcame his injuries,” Turlock said.
The injury Turlock referred to was damage to the cartilage in Johnson’s knee that forced him to undergo a procedure known as microfracture surgery. According to a 2005 article in the New York Times, “Microfracture surgery is minimally invasive as it is performed through an arthroscopy. The surgeon first removes any calcified cartilage. Tiny fractures are then created in the adjacent bones through the use of an awl. Blood and bone marrow (which contains stem cells) seep out of the fractures, creating a blood clot that releases cartilage-building cells. The microfractures are treated as an injury by the body, which is why the surgery results in new, replacement cartilage.”
Only about half of the high level (college, pro, Olympic) athletes who undergo the microfracture surgery return to the game at or near their previous form.
In Johnson’s case he spent almost two seasons on the Carroll bench before returning to action, but that time was not wasted. “Derek used the time he was hurt to learn about the game at this level,” Turlock said. “So that when his time came, he was ready.”
Once back out on the court however, Johnson faced a different set of challenges. Originally recruited to play small forward he was tabbed to play power forward, the 6-3 Johnson found himself one of the shortest players in the Frontier Conference at that position where the average player is around 6-7. “Derek makes up for his size by his scrappy play. He is always at the center of the action,” Turlock said.
The center of the action is where Johnson will find himself come NAIA tournment time as Carroll seeded 25th will face the eighth seeded Robert Morris College Eagles of Chicago, Ill. Tip off for the game between Carroll and Robert Morris is set for Wednesday (today) 7:45 p.m. MDT.
sports@sidneyherald.com
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