The Grassroots Tip Off Classic is the perfect name when it comes to 6’4 ’19 Demarcus Johnson of the Mooresville Magic. You see, the Mooresville Magic is what’s great about “Grassroots” travel basketball. It’s a local organization and the roster is filled with players from Mooresville and the surrounding area. In addition, they are one of the more enjoyable 16U teams to watch in the “Grassroots” circuit, which are teams not belonging in the shoe brand affiliated leagues such as the EYBL, Under Armor and Adidas. Today, we want to take a look at a player that made the biggest impact on me personally.
In an era of the “me first” mentality and players showcasing poor body language on the court, Demarcus Johnson was a breath of fresh air when it comes to a player having the “total package,” and we’re not talking about a player that the high majors will be coming to see. That being said, Demarcus Johnson is a legit D1 player and has all the marking and ingredients to become a mid major prospect. We’re talking about an elite level athlete that has fast twitch muscles and has tremendous bounce and explosion. Without question, he is a high major athlete. He has all the physical components. That being said, Demarcus Johnson made his biggest impression with his vocal leadership on the court. Johnson played with energy, effort and passion every minute he was on the court. He is a complete two-way player and without question demonstrated the best leadership qualities of any player we’ve watched in many years. He’s the type of player any coach at the collegiate level would love coaching.
Off the court, we were equally impressed with his mannerisms, which dovetailed with his on court maturity. In speaking with Johnson, he’s a “yes sir, no sir” type of young man. He was polite, well spoken and very articulate and more importantly he knew how to say the two most magical words in the English language and that was “Thank you!” In addition, Johnson sports an impressive 3.5 GPA and is the true definition of a student athlete. Demarcus Johnson isn’t on the shoe circuit and does play for a local “grassroots” travel ball program, but this young man has the unique blend of athleticism, skill set, leadership, character and is a high academic player. In our humble opinion, schools in the SoCon, Big South, Sun Belt and equivalent conferences should start monitoring him sooner rather than later. Demarcus Johnson will help win games but his infectious positive attitude and work ethic will help bring a positive influence to any program.