Lamont Paris explains LeBron James' shoutout of Meechie Johnson, talks Johnson's play
Lamont Paris remembers the first time he ever met Meechie Johnson, long before their two paths crossed at South Carolina.
Paris was an assistant cutting his teeth in the MAC at Akron when he walked into the gym at Garfield Heights where Sonny Jonson, Meechie’s uncle, was the head coach and about to run practice.
A roster full of future Division I players got ready to work out in front of college coaches, but first two children were there to lead the drills. One of those? Meechie.
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“Before the drills would start they would lead the drills and the high school guys would follow them. They were born with basketballs in their hands. I remember Meechie and his personality. He came up to me, I’m an assistant coach at the University of Akron,” Paris told Derek Scott on Carolina Calls Thursday.
“He’s like, ‘What’s up coach?’ then goes and puts the drill on. It’s unbelievable. They’ve been around basketball forever, literally. They’re a basketball family. It runs deep in their family. Just really good people.”
Paris–also an Ohio native–knew about the Johnson clan for decades, a basketball family where whoever was born into it was build and bred to play the game at a high level.
So when Meechie went into the portal, Paris jumped on the opportunity to bring him to South Carolina.
That led to him solidifying the starting point guard role while leading the Gamecocks to a three-point win at Kentucky where Johnson scored 26 points, hit six threes and dished six assists.
His performance was the talk of college basketball, even getting a shoutout from NBA great LeBron James the following day.
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“Ohio runs deep. It’s funny. He shouted out Meechie Johnson. Meechie’s from Cleveland, of course,” Paris said.
“I talked to Meechie’s dad the next day after the game. Even he mentioned, ‘Yeah, I was on the phone with Bron about it. LeBron just kept saying, Meech, they beat Kentucky, man. They beat Kentucky.’ He saw the score and I thought it was pretty cool he gave a shoutout to a fellow Ohioan that had relocated for a great opportunity and is making good on it. It’s a pretty cool moment for Meechie.”
James posted on Instagram: “Yeaaahhhh nephew!!!!!!! All about the work and that’s all. The results will take care of themselves.”
The four-time champion grew up in Akron, Ohio and obviously played long stints of his professional career in Cleveland. That’s also where Meechie grew up a high school phenom before a knee injury threw up a roadblock.
Johnson was built to play the game while learning from former college athletes like his father, Meechie Johnson Sr., and his uncle, Sonny.
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“They love basketball more than any family I’ve ever (seen). What a great family unit they have,” Paris said. “You talk about a basketball family. They all played high-level college basketball. Meechie and Meechie’s cousin, Sonny Jr., had no choice but to be in this forever.”
Johnson’s been a catalyst for South Carolina (8-8, 1-2 SEC) when the Gamecocks have been on. This season he’s averaging 13.1 points and 3.6 assists per game on 37.9 percent shooting.
He’s averaging 21 points on 46.8 percent shooting (36 percent from three) in three SEC games. Johnson’s also been more aggressive of late, shooting 59.1 percent from two. South Carolina hosts Texas A&M Saturday night (6 p.m., SEC Network).
“Meechie has been defined as a shooter. In this game, he made a lot of shots from three, which is important. I’ve been trying to get him to attack the rim and make that something teams have to respect,” Paris said. “I think he can be good at it, put pressure on the defense, get to the free throw line more and he’s a good and willing passer…We did make a concerted effort to try and attack the rim more.”
