MSU's Brian Johnson Set For China Trip With Reach USA Basketball Team
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State rising junior forward/center Brian Johnson has been selected to compete for Reach USA during an upcoming cultural exchange basketball trip slated for China.
Guided by former MSU backcourt performer and current Texas-Pan American head basketball coach Tom Schuberth, the eight-man Reach USA basketball team is scheduled to play eight exhibition games in 10 days (May 17-26) throughout the countryside of China against various Chinese professional teams. Joining MState's Johnson will be Mikhail Torrence and Demetrius Jemison of the University of Alabama, the Auburn tandem of Quan Prowell and Rasheem Barrett, LSU's Garrett Temple, Paul Stoll of Texas-Pan American, and Lipscomb's Eddie Ard.
The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Johnson sat out the 2006-07 hoops campaign for coach Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs after transferring from the University of Louisville, where he averaged 3.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 30 appearances as a redshirt freshman for the 2005-06 Cardinals. The Laurinburg, N.C., native previously averaged 13.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest as a prep senior in helping lead powerhouse Oak Hill Academy to a perfect 38-0 record and the nation's top ranking in the season-ending 2003-04 USA Today high school poll.
Reach USA is a branch of Sports Reach, Int., which is a Christian sports ministry that uses sports to share the gospel throughout the world.