Brittany Johnson follows in brothers footsteps

Humorous, outgoing, and hard- working are three words that de- scribe freshman guard Brittany John- son of the Lady Panthers basketball team. Growing up in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Johnson began playing basket- ball at a young age. In her four year career at South Side High School, Johnson scored 1,230 points and sank 174 three-point shots. Not only was she a force on the court but a leader in the classroom, graduating with a 3.9 cumulative GPA. When Johnson is not practicing or studying for a class, Johnson en- joys shopping, going out to eat, and watching a good movie. "The normal stuff," she said. "I've been to Atlantic station, Lenox mall, and the Chicken and Waffles place." So far Johnson is enjoying Geor- gia and the college life away from Indiana. According to Johnson, being a student and student-athlete is not as bad as she thought it would be but she added that she say she must stay focused and work hard. Johnson doesn't model her game after anyone in particular but she learns from prominent players such as WNBA Rookie of the Year, Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx and All-American point guard Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame. When John- son played against Diggins in a regular season game in high school, John- son finished with 21 points. Johnson comes from a family of athletes. Johnson's mother played volleyball and her father played college basketball therefore, she knew playing sports would greatly help her parents. She also did not want to waste her talent and do nothing with her skill set. She also said that she wanted to get away from home and start over clean. One of the biggest reasons she chose Georgia State was the influence of her older brother Marcus Johnson. Despite hovering at six-foot- five inches tall, Marcus played point guard for the Panthers for two years at Georgia State and was the starter last season as a senior. The bond between the two siblings is strong and Johnson has no worries about following in Marcus' footsteps or being stuck in his shadow. Johnson, who has eight brothers and sisters, says that Marcus is the most influential to her because he has been through the system already. "He has been through everything that I am about to go through, so I can relate to him," said Johnson. "He is kind of like my second dad." When times got rough for the Johnson family, Marcus kept her on track and focused on the goal. Johnson explained that her brother helped motivate her to lose weight so that she could get a scholarship to play basketball for the Lady Panthers. He also helped touch up her game and followed through with her although he was away in college most of Johnson's high school career. In a game of one-on-one between her and Marcus, Johnson believes she would win. "I done beat him a couple times, he's just so much bigger than me." It was all love. Johnson said her brother gave her great advice that she stuck with. "Be on your stuff or you will be stuck in Ft. Wayne" was what her brother told her. Being stuck in Ft. Wayne was not on Johnson's agenda. Her new agenda is to help lead the Lady Panthers to a successful season as a freshman. "My goal is to grow as a person and as a student as well as helping the Lady Panthers to a good season" said Johnson. No doubt, Marcus will be watching.