‘Now it’s his turn’: Chaney Johnson primed for larger role with Auburn basketball

ALEXANDER CITY — As fifth-year Florida guard Zyon Pullin raced down the floor in the second half of the 2024 SEC Tournament title game against Auburn basketball, he set his sights on the rim.

Only one foe stood in his way: freshman point guard Aden Holloway, whose 6-foot-1 stature doesn’t exactly make him a strong interior presence.

The only issue for Pullin was he had no idea how close Chaney Johnson was trailing him. He found out when Johnson emphatically spiked his layup attempt off the backboard. The Tigers collected the loose ball, slowed the tempo down and ran a play that featured Johnson feeding All-American teammate Johni Broome in the post with a pass from the top of the key.

Broome, a lefty, backed his way to the basket and converted a right-handed bucket while falling to the ground. That sequence, involving Johnson on both ends, gave Auburn its largest lead of the game to that point — 17 points — and helped secure its third conference tournament championship in program history.

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With All-SEC forward Jaylin Williams off to the NBA, coach Bruce Pearl wants to see Johnson involved in more plays like that next season.

It’s beyond a want, actually; the Tigers need Johnson to step into the hole left by Williams at the 4.

“I thought Chaney had just a great year last year coming up from Division II, and coming all the way up to high-major basketball,” Pearl said Tuesday at an AMBUSH event. “… You had Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome that sort of carried the load, and so Chaney was sort of able to come off the bench and give us a spark. Now it’s his turn.

“There’s actually going to be as big of an adjustment now, going, ‘All right, let’s do it every night, let’s do it potentially as a starter.’ We’ll see. He’s an incredibly hard worker, he’s in the gym all day, every day. He’s got tremendous…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/now-turn-chaney-johnson-primed-090300880.html

Author : The Montgomery Advertiser

Publish date : 2024-07-04 09:03:00

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