City of Basketball Love

Andy Backstrom (@Fineand_dAndy)
--

Alfred Johnson grew up with the game of basketball. After playing high school and college ball for Germantown Friends School and Christopher Newport University, respectively, he has coached for over 30 years.

However, Johnson has not always been in touch with the game.

On December 24, 1980, Johnson’s life took a turn.

“A very close friend of mine, who was big brother to me - Timmy Claxton - passed away,” he told CoBL by phone on Tuesday. “And when Timmy passed, I was with him when he passed, I just lost all my joy and love for basketball.”

Claxton, a perennial star for Germantown High School’s basketball program from 1970-74 and for Temple University from 1974-78, died of heart failure at the age of 24, collapsing right in front of Johnson after the two had shot around at Germantown Friends.

Johnson lived near the future Big 5 Hall of Famer in the Germantown area and spent days and nights playing basketball with him. He finished his college career in the spring of 1981 after just two seasons at CNU, and then didn’t pick up a basketball again for days, which turned into weeks, and then months.

It took three years, until a role model of his was able to help him rediscover his passion for the sport of basketball.

“I gained it (passion) back in ’84 when my high school coach Dave Felsen sat down with me and asked me to come back and be his assistant coach at Germantown Friends School,” Johnson said. “I had been away from it for a couple of years, and I realized when I was away from it, that I had missed it. But I think also the two years away, fueled that fire.”

Johnson’s coaching career was off and running. Since that conversation with Felsen, Johnson has coached at: Germantown Friends School (head coach, 1985-90), Manor College (assistant coach, 1990-91), Elizabeth City State University (1991-95), Alabama State University (assistant coach, 1995-96), Tennessee State University (assistant coach, 1996-97), Tuskegee University (assistant coach, 1997-99), Saint Mary’s College of Maryland (head coach - 1999-2003), Holy Family University (head coach - 2003-10), Valley Forge Military College (associate head coach - 2013-14) and Manor College (head coach, 2014-16).

And as of May 23, he is the new head coach of Valley Forge Military College.

Former Trojans’ head coach and current athletic director Richard Casey stepped down from the head coaching position, in order to concentrate on his duties as AD for the school.

Having been there just two years before, Johnson found Valley Forge to be an attractive destination for a head coaching job.

“I felt great about it. I was honored that Casey thought of me as someone, he thought he could entrust the program to, in terms of what he had started,” he said. “I also thought about, again, the facilities and being able to attract young student athletes.”

Johnson is coming off a successful head coaching stint with Manor College. In his two years with the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Division II school, he posted a 38-17 record. Last season, he led the team to the Region XIX Championship Game, where it fell to Essex County College 66-65 at the buzzer.

His expectations at Valley Forge, also in the NJCAA’s second division, are similar.

“Our expectation is to win,” he said. “And we’re out daily, recruiting for the upcoming year, and recruiting to, again, establish a culture so that when people hear the name Valley Forge Military College men’s basketball, right away it piques their interest. That’s the goal we’re trying to set.”

Johnson is attempting to sculpt a “culture” that betters his team personally and skillfully.

“We’re trying to create an environment through basketball at a military college where they feel they can achieve things that they want, in terms of getting their grades better, playing at a four year school, but also knowing that there is someone that will listen to them,” Johnson said.

“Sometimes we get young men who don’t know fully the impact of a firm handshake and looking someone in the eye. They don’t understand that. And those are things that we try to spend time on outside of basketball.”

Johnson values discipline both on and off the court. He molds his teams to the “running game,” meaning that whoever is on the court for him will be running up and down the floor at all times. This playing style yields aggressive defense and lots of scoring.

This past year, the veteran coach had two players in the top 20 in the National Junior College Association Division II: sophomores William Davis and Thomas Farrior Jr. averaged 24.4 points per game and 19.2 points per game, respectively. And during his 2008 season at Holy Family, he coached Michael Sturns who led the country in scoring, averaging 26.6 points per game.

“If a guy can score, he’s going to score for me,” Johnson said.

In addition to the “X’s” and “O’s”, he focuses on the team concept, not just for his players, but also for his coaching staff.

“I think a good coach is able to fully utilize his assistant coaches. Years ago when I was a high school coach, I heard an old coach say that you can tell how secure a head coach is by how he utilizes his assistant coaches.”

Johnson is excited to begin working with his assistant coaches Rasheed Brinkley, Eddie Green, and Cory Jacobson.

“The first thing we plan to do is let the returning players know fully that they can trust us - that’s important. Anytime I take over a program, I liken it to a situation of a stepfather. You are coming into someone’s home where there are kids already. And you have to develop their trust,” Johnson said.

Once faltering, the heartbeat of Johnson’s basketball heart is livelier than ever at Valley Forge.

“Each of us has a ministry of our own. Basketball is my ministry,” Johnson said.