David Johnson
Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame member Carla Lucas Whitfield calls David Johnson one of the smoothest and most unselfish basketball players to ever play at Forrest City.
"David was an all-around player and he was about 6'5", but he could play all over the court," Whitfield added. "Even working the point guard position on the court. He could give a team anything it needed... defense, scoring, assists, whatever you wanted. He could score at evey level and rebound with ease."
Asked if she ever went oneon-one with Johnson, Whitfield said "No, but I think I could get him. He probably could have blocked my shot, but that's the only thing,"
"We were together through high school as classmates, always cheering each other on during games," Johnson said of Whitfield.
Johnson, a 1988 Forrest City graduate will be inducted into the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame tonight representing the Era after 1970.
During his time at Forrest City, Johnson was selected to the 4A-East All-Conference team all three years and to the All-State team his junior and senior seasons playing alongside Rusty Trail as a sophomore.
He participated in the 1988 AAA All-Star Game and was named All-Tournament even though he was not selected, according to Whitfield.
"I had been selected, but David had not been," Whitfield added. "I remember one of the players, either from Wynne or Marked Tree, got sick, and David was the replacement. David missed the MVP honor by just a few points."
As a senior at Forrest City, Johnson averaged almost 20 points per game and helped lead the Mustangs into the Class 4A state tournament and a 15-11 season mark under then coach Joe Carden, the varsity girls coach who moved to take over the boy's program.
"That made me mad," Whitfield said. "Under Coach Carden the girl's team was having one of their best seasons and then we lost our coach."
"High school basketball was just fun," Johnson admitted. "But college basketball got serious quickly. The love for the game started to fade and then I started working and I got married."
Johnson started his college basketball career by signing with Westark Community College, now known as UA Fort Smith, where he was named All-Region and JUCO Honorable Mention All-American at Westark. Johnson won the slam dunk title two consecutive years as a freshman and sophomore. At Pan American, Johnson was named the Conference newcomer for the 1990-91 season and played in the Texas Senior All-Star Game in 1992 in Houston.
From seventh grade on Johnson also played football and until the 10th grade, Johnson ran track, competing in the high jump and hurdles.
"Football wasn't my thing," Johnson admitted. "When Mr. Laws, our superintendent, gave me my All-State medal, he told me I would be a heck of a football player. But I was almost skinny then. Not so much now, I got married and now I'm about 245. I was eating good, and I've never liked throwing away good food."
While in college in Texas, Johnson also had the opportunity to scrimmage against Todd Day, Lee Mayberry and Oliver Miller.
"Everyone thought sure I was going to the NBA," Johnson said. "But I knew that wasn't going to happen. I thought about trying out with other semi-pro leagues but changed my mind. When you get to be my age, everything hurts after you've played or tried to play basketball. Almost to the point of not being able to get out of bed."