2008-09 Titan Player Journals

Sean Johnson (6-0 sophomore guard, Washington, IL)

2007-08 Stats: 11.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 60-160 3-pt (.375), named 3rd Team All-CCIW as freshman

High school:  Scored 18.3 points per game, averaged 3.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals...made 75 3-pointers, shot 45% from 3...scored 35 points in final H.S. game, a sectional loss to Peoria Richwoods...3rd Team all-state IBCA...Peoria Journal Star all-area team.

Entry #3 - November 3, 2008

IWU Hoops Fans,

It feels like just yesterday that I e-mailed Q about these player journals and was skeptical of what the end product would be. I must say, I'm really pleased with the way they are going. I am really glad we could rope in my two good friends Duncan Lawson and Doug Sexauer. I must admit, Doug's first entry was pretty comical. I really hope everyone appreciated our costumes, especially my Coach Rose costume; it took quite a bit of time to perfect my side part hair-do. That goes hand in hand with a very special quality of our team; we can all take a joke. From coaches to players, we are a very fun bunch to be around.

I am currently writing my blog entry from a computer on the 2nd floor of the Ames Library tonight at 11 p.m. For those who do not get to know about our lives outside of basketball, this is why I am currently in the library at such a late hour. First off, I spent a solid 3 hours here earlier in the middle of the day studying (forcing me to miss the end of the Bears game, that is dedicated studying because we had practice tonight from 7:30-10 p.m. Not one of the better practice times, I know.) So by the time we are done relaxing and showered up and I have grabbed some dinner, I am in for a late night of studying. I did see Sean Dwyer in the library at the same time as me today working on a 15 page paper, pretty fun stuff there. Unfortunately, whenever I see Sean at the library we spend 20 or 30 minutes discussing sports, IWU basketball, and school related things. The main reason I am spending so much time in the library is because of my day Tuesday. This is my plan for the day on Tuesday: wake up at 9 for breakfast, study until lunch, eat lunch with the guys, study more after lunch and then this wonderful afternoon… 2:35-3:50-Psychology Test; 4-6:30- Practice. 7-9-Accounting Test. There are great days to being a student-athlete, and there are days you'd rather forget about. I will let you decide which one of those days Tuesday will be.

As for basketball, this past week has been our best week of practice thus far. I think it might have something to do with the film session we had after our scrimmage (it wasn't pretty.) But that is in the past and we have learned from it and it will definitely make us better down the road. I want to bring up some other interesting facts for the fans to find out about because these things aren't everyday knowledge. A lot of our team has history with each other; it is actually pretty cool to talk about. For me, I have the most history with Matt Schick and Dexter Walker. Dexter and I were actually high school rivals, and they gave us our closest game when I was a senior (you can ask him what happened, he will be happy to answer.) Matt Schick and I have been playing against each other since 3rd grade. Our teams actually played in super-sectionals sophomore year of high school, but we didn't formally meet until after our senior season where we discussed going to IWU together and now we are going to be sharing a room in a house to end college. It is a pretty crazy story to think about.

I'd also like to give some shout-outs to some people that helped me get to the point I'm at now. First and foremost, my family. My parents are at every game, home and away, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan or California, it doesn't matter to them. That really means a lot to me. My dad, Kirk, has coached me a lot in my life and you can see him in the front row of every game. He and I actually share words during the game, sometimes not even about basketball. It's a big reason I still love playing the game. My mom, Ruth, who is the butt of our jokes at home but is still a very good sport about it, has recently developed a love for taking pictures. So you will see her with her highly professional camera snapping some photos during the games. My mom also is in Bloomington once a week at least taking me out to eat and bringing me laundry. I can't imagine where I would be without them. I also have 2 brothers. Andy is 21 and about to graduate from the U of I and go out in the real world and Grant is an 8th grader this year and is a point guard who you Titan fans can get excited about watching in about 4 or 5 years. Those two are probably my best friends in the world and they are very supportive of me. My grandparents are also at nearly every game and are very supportive of me and the team and it is great to get to play in front of them. I'd also like to shout-out to my group of friends from home. You guys know who you are. Some I played with, some I supported in other sports, but those guys will be always be my friends and I really appreciate their support today. I'd also like to shout-out to my high school coach, Kevin Brown and his wife, Jodi, who I still talk to regularly and helped me get here today. And lastly, my high school teammate, Matt Roth. Mattie is doing the big time basketball thing at Indiana University, and although they may have an off year this year, look for him on ESPN. The kid is a player.

I think that is about it for now Titan fans, it is back to Journaling purchases and sales of inventory in a perpetual accounting system for me. Until next time…

Sean Johnson #2

P.S- I'd like to ask all Titan fans to keep the Charlton family in your prayers. Jake Charlton, the younger brother of a really good friend of mine from home, was involved in a serious ATV accident. Please keep him in your prayers.

Entry #2 - October 23, 2008

Titan Fans,

As Q and the rest of the players promised, the Titan player journals are something we are really interested in doing throughout the season. Due to my class schedule, I have the opportunity to write my blog at 12:30 on a Thursday because Duncan Lawson and I each have the same class today from 2:35-3:50. I have often times heard people use the saying, "Enjoy your time in college, because it goes by fast." I can think of a lot of things I enjoy here, and days like this are near the top of the list.

As for the basketball side of things, I'm sure most of you all know that practice is underway for us. That means less open gym and weightlifting, and more organization, learning and coming together as a team. I am pleased to say that so far, we've had a really, really good 4 days of practice. Practice has been filled with learning new stuff and remembering old stuff for the returners (feels weird that most of us sophomores can be considered veterans now.) The practices are especially hard this time of year for the freshmen. I know from firsthand experience that coming to practice every day and having to play as hard as you can every play while trying to remember everything you are taught is really a tough task. I think our group of newcomers has done a great job with that and handled it very well. Another thing people would see in our practices is the intensity and competitiveness. One of Coach Rose's best quotes for our team last year was that "we learned how hard we had to play." So far this year, we aren't quite where we need to be in terms of that yet, but with our work ethic as a team, it won't be long until we figure it out. And for those who do not know yet, we have our first scrimmage of the year on Sunday at 3 p.m versus St. Francis University. We'd love to see as many Titan fans there as possible to show you all what we have been working on and what you have to look forward to this season.

I'd also like to give the fans a look into what goes on off the court as a team during season. People don't always get to see the closeness of our team because they don't see us interacting outside of the Shirk Center. There is a rarely a day that goes by that our team, from seniors to freshmen, don't eat a meal together in the cafeteria. We also go out to eat as a team pretty frequently, and ever since last year a group of us have started a ritual where we go every Friday night and see a new movie together. It has developed into an every Friday thing and has been a really fun experience. Another big thing that is going on off the court is that Duncan Lawson, Doug Sexauer, Matt Schick, Edmond O'Callaghan, Travis Rosenkranz, Mike Kempf, and I recently signed a lease to live in a house together for next year right down the street from Sean Dwyer. Titan fans don't always get to see all this, but we are one big family and that translates a lot to the court - we all hope the other person does well and we don't care about who gets the credit as long as we are winning.

I'd just like to take the time to write about one more thing. I know that JMo wrote about this and I thought he said it very well. Kevin Bryant was the absolute best teammate, friend, and person any of us had the chance to meet. I owe a lot of my success from last year to KB, because there was not a day in practice where he didn't bring the best out of me and make me work my hardest to get better. KB was the fiercest competitor any of us knew and he had the tendency to rub some people the wrong way because of that, but as soon as we stepped off the court, he was the first guy to bring a smile to your face and figure out what we were all going to do together after practice. For example, last year in one of the practices we went at each other especially hard and almost came to blows, but afterwards he cooked me a steak at Alexander's. That was just the type of guy KB was and he is greatly missed by all of us. We hope to carry on his legacy by playing off of his motto, "Never get outhustled", and pass that tradition on to the younger classes.

Lastly, I just want to say that Sean D., Jordan, and I have a very special opportunity to write these journal entries and I want to thank everyone who reads these. If you ever have a comment or question, or want us to write about something, do not hesitate to leave a comment because we all check to see if anyone wants to know about anything else. That is all for now Titan fans, and just to get everyone excited for another winning season of IWU Basketball, I will end this by saying…

29 days until tip-off!

Sean Johnson #2

Entry #1 - October 1, 2008

Titan Fans,

My name is Sean Johnson and I am a sophomore here at Illinois Wesleyan University. I am a guard on the basketball team and as a student-athlete at IWU, I have a very unique experience that I'm very lucky to have. I know that I receive a top notch education while also playing top notch basketball. I recently chose my major and have begun some of my classes towards that while also finishing up my general education requirements. Classes here do require a lot of work but are also kind of fun because of the neat opportunity to design your own schedule so a lot of our teammates have classes together. I

I contacted Q about this journal because it was something I always thought was neat in the past and wanted the chance to continue informing titan fans of what was going from an inside the program perspective. We have all of our guys on campus now and have had the chance to bond as a team already from top to bottom, seniors to the incoming freshman. A very special part of our run last year was the closeness and selflessness of our guys last year and I get the feeling that we have that same thing again this year. From a basketball perspective, right now is not the most fun time for a player but it is a very necessary time frame for us.

We are currently lifting weights 4 days a week and going through workouts and conditioning with our trainer, Doc Kauth, who has done a tremendous job in helping us become stronger and quicker. There are several titans this year that will make you a double take because of the changes they have gone through. We are also playing open gym 3-4 times a week now and it has been incredibly competitive so far. This is a good sign for us, and hopefully it will carry over into practices so we will have guys pushing each other day in and day out. We are all very aware of the strength of each and every team in the CCIW this year and a lot of us learned just how hard we have to play night in and night out.

As for what fans can expect from us this year, it will be a lot of the same as last year. We really prided ourselves on how hard we played and our ability to do anything to win, such as taking charges or diving for loose balls, and we felt like the fans really appreciated that. We did lose some athleticism in Darius' departure but we really feel like with how good our post players are, combined with our guard play, we could be poised for a real deep run this year. Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, we are all still aware we have a lot of work to do. I really hope this blog gave the fans a chance to get excited because basketball season is just around the corner and I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say we really appreciate all the support we receive from each and every fan, and look forward to giving you all something to cheer about this year, hopefully long into March.

Until I write next time, thanks for checking out the journal and get excited for some Titan basketball.

Sean Johnson #2