Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Bigger Than Basketball: Principles Guide Johnson
PRINCIPLES GUIDE JOHNSON
FARMINGTON — Farmington head girls basketball coach Brad Johnson knows there are things bigger than the sport he so passionately coaches.
Over the course of 10 seasons at the helm his faith has been challenged dealing with injuries, logistics, raw emotions, and tactical considerations, as well as the current covid-19 crisis, which resulted in the postponement of the 2020 Class 4A State finals 24 hours before Johnson and the Lady Cardinals were scheduled to compete against Star City Friday at 6 p.m. at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs.
Johnson and the Lady Cardinals arrived at Hot Springs last week on the heels of two solid state tournament wins over Pocahontas (65-48) on March 4 and a Saturday, March 7, semifinal victory over 2019 Class 4A champion Batesville (76-64) only to be sent home.
Farmington interim athletic director and high school principal Jon Purifoy said the Arkansas Activities Association hasn’t told the school anything beyond that the state finals may be put off through March 30.
“There are no more practices going on at any of our schools,” Purifoy said Monday as spring sports were suspended along with basketball. Farmington teachers were working Monday to compile lessons students can complete online in wake of Governor Asa Hutchinson’s directive to suspend on- site instruction. Then, they, too, were also leaving the building, which according to Purifoy will be cleaned.
Staff will work in the office throughout the week. The office will be cleaned over the weekend.
Divine Plan
While circumstances and situations don’t always make sense on the surface Johnson exercises faith while trusting in a divine plan.
“I’m thankful that God has chosen to allow me to be a part of this beautiful journey and pray that he will continue to use this team to touch the lives of others and that in all things we will give him praise and honor,” Johnson said last week prior to the postponement of the state finals. “It is and has always been bigger than basketball and for that I am thankful.”
That’s a perspective even the most devoted basketball fans tend not to think about especially in the midst of intense competition or frustration, but one Johnson maintains.
Throughout each test of adversity there are certain principles guiding his course of action, well illustrated throughout his tenure since taking over for Hall-of-Fame coach Brad Blew beginning with the 2009-2010 season.
Inclusivity
Johnson’s overall coaching
philosophy showcases inclusivity, resembling an ancient proverb not to withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in one’s power to act.
Early in Johnson’s tenure a young man he once coached as a seventh grader in central Arkansas arrived in northwest Arkansas wanting to get a foot in the door and pursue a coaching career.
Johnson got Spencer Gay involved by having him coach Farmington’s AAU team. Then an opening came up and Gay accepted a job offer to join Star City coach Becky Yarbrough’s program as an assistant.
Johnson succeeded in helping Gay launch his career, and would later say, “When you do that you hope you don’t meet that team in the state tournament.”
But the teams did meet in the Class 4A State finals on March 10, 2012, at Hot Springs. Gay’s familiarity with the Lady Cardinals and Johnson’s program gave Star City a tactical advantage.
Relationships
In the aftermath of a disappointing 56- 34 loss, Johnson noted one game didn’t define the accomplishments of the season. He valued the relationship above competition. Gay is now head coach at Bauxite after a stint at Stuttgart. He still taps into Johnson’s expertise and they talk probably on a weekly basis.
“He’s on my reference sheet so I’m sure in some way he helped me get that job,” Gay said.
Gay emulates what he’s learned and observed from Johnson, who has more than 200 wins at Farmington with multiple state tourney appearances.
“I didn’t have the personnel this year but I like to run a similar style and I guess try to develop the youth kind of like as he has here with his pee wee program and AAU and stuff like that.
I’m trying to replicate what he has here in the central Arkansas area,” Gay said. “It was year one for me so it’s still building in progress. I took the same thing over to Stuttgart. When I was there we had some success so that’s the plan, just try to replicate. It’s proven, what I mean is he’s going to the state championship.”
Perspective
Shock waves reverberated throughout the Lady Cardinal program when freshman Ella Wilson collapsed on the bench and had to be revived with a defibrillator during junior high basketball games played at Shiloh Christian Jan. 29, 2015.
“You can’t predict that, but as a head coach it makes you a little nervous,” Johnson said in the weeks following. “It puts things in great perspective for all of us.
No medical explanation for what might have triggered the collapse was ever given and the incident generated much discussion among the Lady Cardinal staff about how player physicals are conducted. Wilson eventually received medical clearance and returned to basketball after sitting out her sophomore season. She graduated in 2018.
Opportunity
Johnson seeks out opportunity doing good unto others. He and his wife, Amber, opened up their home to sophomore Tamia Harper, whose mother, Tanya Harper, 44, passed unexpectedly Labor Day weekend on Sept. 3, 2017.
Tanya Harper’s wish was for Tamia to attend Farmington High School and play basketball for the Lady Cardinals. To honor that wish, the Johnsons took in Tamia, nurturing her through a broken heart while she recovered from a torn ACL. Tamia transferred after the season to be closer to family. She visited and sat on the bench during a home game this season at Cardinal Arena and plans to attend Northwest Arkansas Community College.
Miracle
Johnson witnessed a miraculous recovery when guard Makenna Vanzant, then a 15-year- old sophomore, was hospitalized and diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome ( HUS) two weeks after what seemed a typical practice on Oct. 19, 2017.
HUS is caused by the abnormal destruction of red blood cells and Vanzant faced life-threatening kidney failure. The crisis was not accounted for in advance in Johnson’s game plan. He prepared to revamp the structure of the Lady Cardinal offense.
Farmington trainer Malinda Rector, using her connections to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, organized a prayer vigil at Cardinal Arena. Vanzant miraculously recovered as doctors marveled at her progress. She returned to school Nov. 10, 2017 and went on to earn All-State honors averaging 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2 steals, and 0.5 blocks-pergame.
Current Crisis
The postponement of the state finals presents yet another test. Johnson and the Farmington girls may have to lean on another faith-based principle, which states, “that the testing of one’s faith produces perseverance, and to let perseverance finish its work so that they may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Lady Cardinal fans can take heart — Johnson’s faith and experience have prepared him for such a time as this.