The Division III Rowan University women's team is 17-3 this season after an 84-53 win over Ramapo this past weekend. The victory improved the Profs record in the New Jersey Athletic Conference to 11-2 and that has them tied for first.
"It's tough for other teams when they play against her," he said.
"I think other parts of the game, like scoring and assists and other stuff, it takes a lot more skill and practice, I guess," Johnson told KYW Newsradio. "But hustling for the rebound, you can just hustle and try and jump and do your hardest. That is something that I can always bring. Obviously, I can work on other things, but I think I always have that drive in me when I play."
The numbers are impressive, but they aren't what drives Johnson.
"When people are too focused on 'Oh, I'm going to drop 20 (points), I'm going to get this many rebounds' and all that, I think that takes away from the real purpose of playing basketball," she said. "Just going out there and having fun, going hard."
Her philosophy on shot blocking is pretty simple.
"If you see someone about to shoot, try and go for it," she said. "Coach Poles yells at me sometimes. He's like, 'You don't need to try and block every shot.' But it's just that mentality that no one's going to score on me."
Poles says he recognized that Johnson was something special as soon as he started recruiting her out of the Pennington School in New Jersey.
"When she's on her game, she effects everything that other teams try to do and she limits their offensive abilities," he said. "Because they only get one shot, and she's going to get the rebound. You're not getting a second shot. Or if you drive in, it's going to get contested, she's going to change shots."
Johnson already has broken the Rowan record for blocks in a game (nine), season and career (127). In addition, her 26-rebound performance on Jan. 15 at Kean tied another Rowan record.
Despite all the attention from her records and stats, Johnson is quick to point out that the entire team is responsible for their success this season.
"Everybody on the team brings something to the table," she said. "All the girls on the roster have skills that contribute to the game and everyone can have a standout night at any point."
Johnson and the Profs return to action on Wednesday night when they visit Stockton.
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