A story of fate: DerMarr Johnson reunites with former coach

It never should have happened. DerMarr Johnson. WVU.

It almost played out too perfectly, like fate.

Without a sudden change of mind from an eighteen year old, the dots never would have connected down the line to land him where he is today: the newest assistant coach to Bob Huggins.

DerMarr Johnson never planned on going to college. A highly touted recruit throughout high school and eventual National High School Player of the Year, it never seemed necessary.

“I wasn’t even thinking about college from like sophomore, junior, even my senior year. The NBA was always the plan,” said Johnson.

When questions were raised about his physical readiness and effort, Johnson’s plan shifted.

“The people around me, they said, ‘you can go out in the draft and maybe get in the top fifteen and probably move up if you have good workouts.’ But, they said I was too good of a talent to maybe not go where I deserved to go. I guess we all collectively decided, a year of school, just to give the NBA scouts and GMs peace of mind that I’ve worked on my body and that I play hard,” said Johnson.

A typical player in this situation might usually pick a school where he would be able to dominate and be the big man on campus, but Johnson did just the opposite, joining an already star studded Cincinnati team, coached by none other than Bob Huggins.

“I knew we would be a good team. I could have gone to a team not as good, not as demanding, averaged a whole bunch of points and I still would have gotten drafted high probably. I didn’t think that was a problem, it was just answering those questions that they had about me,” said Johnson.

After joining Huggins’ Bearcats, he would help them to a number two seed in the national tournament, before being selected at 6th overall in that year’s draft.

Now, after a long and winding playing career, Johnson lands back where it all began, beside Bob Huggins as his new assistant coach for the Mountaineers.

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