Shoes squeaking, basketball dribbling and rim rattling, Texas men’s basketball freshman guard Tre Johnson put in extra work on his jumper. The mostly empty Moody Center echoed with the sound of the ball hitting the court.
For Johnson, it doesn’t matter if the arena is full of cheering fans or empty. It’s not hard to see the effects of his extra practice, hardly missing on the court. Johnson simply loves the game.
“I’ve always had (this) type of emotion, even when I was like six years old playing in the rec league,” Johnson said. “It’s just the love I got for the game and I’ve just been trying to channel my emotions and not let them show because others tend to not like that.”
The Garland, Texas, local has already had quite the season. Coming in as a five-star recruit, Johnson has worked his way to lead the Southeastern Conference in scoring with 18.8 points per game and posting six 20-point efforts.
“Expectations were high for him,” head coach Rodney Terry said. “He’s more than lived up to the ability in terms of being ready to play on this stage and play at a very high level from the start of the season to where we are right now.”
In Texas’ win against No. 13 Texas A&M, Johnson scored a career-high 30 points, helping tie the program record for the largest comeback victory since at least the start of the 1998-99 season. Along with his performance against No. 22 Missouri, Johnson was named SEC Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week.
“I’d say that’s the most I’ve exerted myself,” Johnson said. “Just going out trying to make things happen. I usually just play and go with the flow of the game and I feel like just knowing that we were down 20, … I tried to do something to help change the game.”
Just like when he was alone in the gym, Johnson was unwavering on the line, making another career-best with 10-10 free throws. In just 37 minutes, Johnson also worked hard on defense, getting one turnover and two blocked shots.
“It just goes to show I’m not just leading by talking, I’m also trying to lead by example on defense so I can’t be out there messing up and trying to coach somebody else to do something else,” Johnson said.
Despite what his stats say, Johnson’s season has not been easy.
Against New Mexico State, Johnson suffered from a hip injury that put him out for two games. Since then, he has slowly built up his defensive game, leading by example on the court.
“I’ve had some ups and downs throughout the season,” Johnson said. “I don’t think about hitting the wall because I know there are so many other things I know I could be doing.”
When Johnson is on the court, he is a fiery presence. Not only does he make moves on offense and defense, but he also yells at himself to get himself to focus.
“There’s a lot of mistakes and things that I make throughout the game and a lot of just little things that nobody else sees but only I know I messed up on,” Johnson said. “So if I’m yelling it’s mainly at myself just to be better or focus more on little stuff.”
Johnson’s impact on Texas basketball is already clear, and for the freshman guard, this feels like just the beginning.