Markell 3.0 key to Wolfpack hoop success in 2019-20
Markell Johnson is something of a throwback player in that he's a fourth-year senior who has played his entire career at one school and gradually added elements to his game as he's grown and matured.
As a freshman in 2016-17 he was an understudy to star Dennis Smith Jr. who reclassified and arrived at college a year earlier than expected. As a sophomore he was primarily a distributor who led the ACC in assists at 7.3 per game. Last year as a junior, he evolved into a scorer, ranking second on the team at 12.7 points per game while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range.
This year, coach Kevin Keatts is looking for the 6-foot-1 Cleveland native to add the role of leader to his resume while at the same time finding a balance between his scoring and distributing abilities.
"I need him to do both," Keatts said Thursday at State's preseason media day. "I don't need that sophomore year to be a great passer but pass up good shots and last year, obviously he could score. I need him to be a complete player.
"I also need him to be a two-way player. He's a guy who's quick enough to play in our system. He can lead us in steals. But I just need his leadership around the entire program."
Being a leader, however, isn't something that comes naturally to Johnson. It's a skill he said he's had to work on almost as hard as he has at improving his shooting and ballhandling
"Coach Keatts wanted me to be more vocal last year and I kind of failed him at that." Johnson said. "So this year I'm going to try to be more vocal."
He's also concentrating on being more consistent.
There were times last season, most notably in an opening round ACC tournament win against Clemson, in which Johnson took games over in the second half and either rallied the Wolfpack from double-digit deficits or helped the team hold on to slim leads down the stretch.
His goal this season, emphasized by the feedback he received from going through the NBA draft process this spring, is to be less streaky.
"It's just staying locked in," he said, "just staying locked in from the beginning to the end of the game."
How important is Johnson to the success of the Wolfpack?
Consider that the team went 1-2 in the three games he missed because of a back injury last season, including a loss to lowly Wake Forest in which State made only one of 14 3-point attempts in the first half.
Keatts went so far as to call his senior point guard one of the top five players in the ACC, adding that "if we're going to be good, he has to be a really good basketball player."
Johnson has
