www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030 -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 10/30/2007
Last Visited: 10/30/2007
"Everytime I saw Nikita he was working - talking to someone or pouring over information on players.You'd see some recruiters check out a player or two and take the rest of the day off.Not Nikita - that work ethic was the thing that first caught my attention.That, and he has that knack for finding great players."
Johnson said the secret behind finding those kinds of players is knowing who to talk to.
"You have to do your homework and get to know the player and those around him," Johnson said.
...
"Nikita has a great ability of finding out who really has influence with a given player and working with that person and the player to figure out what would be best for them and if our programwould be a good fit.Recruiting takes a lot of hard work, patience and time.You spend a lot of time on the road and more time on the phone - it's not a 9-to-5 job by any means.But Nikita is willing to do whatever it takes to help us reach out goal of making this one of the best basketball programs around."
Johnson grew up in Florida and played at Chipola J.C. before coached there nine years before moving on to Oddessa Junior College in Texas.Johnson also served as an assistant coach at West Georgia before moving to the Division I level where he served as assistant coach at Murray State from 1993-95, Duquesne from 1995-98, Tennessee State in 1998 and then six years at UNO.
He most recently served as an assistant for John Brady at LSU and helped bring the Tigers to the Final Four and two SEC titles before making the decision last spring to join Rupp's new staff at Tech.
"For me it was the challenge - that's what brought me here.I wanted to part of rebuilding this program from the ground floor up," Johnson said pointing to the newly-installed Karl Malone Court.
...
"That's why bringing in Nikita and his recruiting expertise was so important, because this group of coaches has such a broad base of recruiting abilities that I feel we can bring in players from anywhere," Rupp said.
...
Rennie has plenty of recruiting ability, especially in Texas and Louisiana and Nikita has been around and is known throughout the country.
...
And I knew if we wanted the best coordinating those recruiting efforts, we needed Nikita.We wanted to cover all the angles when it comes to recruiting."
Those angles basically come down to hard work and knowing who to talk to.
"Nikita works 24/7," Rupp said.
...
That's Nikita.You earn respect by knowing how to work the situation and figuring out who you really need to talk to and what you really need to say.That's Nikita."
Johnson's abilities have already paid off for the Bulldogs.Former LSU player Magnum Rolle left that program when Johnson did and enrolled at Tech, where he'll have to sit out a year before officially joining the Bulldogs.Johnson helped bring former Nebraska Cornhusker Jamel White to Tech and joined Bailey in helping bring former Richwood standout and Oklahoma State player Kenny Cooper to Tech after he decided to transfer from Oklahoma State.
He also helped bring current highly recruited freshman Bulldog Olu Ashaloo to Tech.
"That's a player who was expected to be in the Top Eight in the nation if he had stayed in school another year and hadn't come out," Johnson said.
...
Nikita Johnson, left, has been instrumental in bringing players such as Magnum Rolle, Jamel White and Kenny Cooper to play for Louisiana Tech.
46 online sources [ view sources ]
Profile is not claimed [ this is me ]
