Senior forward Rob Johnson was part of the 10-player contingent from the Norfolk State men's basketball team that traveled to the Bahamas Aug. 8-13 in an overseas trip designed to get the new-look Spartans out on the court before the start of the academic year. After losing four of the team's five starters from last season, the coaching staff is looking to fill the void left by a core group of players who led NSU to its first-ever MEAC title.
One of those players looking to fill that void is Johnson, who filed the blog below after returning home from the six-day Bahamas trip on Monday. After blogging about the first two games Thursday and Friday, Johnson wraps things up following Saturday's game and their day off on Sunday. Included in this edition is how the team realized it was coming back to reality (thanks to a certain coach's singing) and Johnson's overall thoughts on how the trip went for a team looking for players to step up.
Read about all that and more, right here from Johnson:
“Back to reality.
“As we walk from the lobby to the bus that will eventually take us to the airport, Coach (Robert) Jones sings to himself, 'Back to life, back to reality.' Although it wasn't as vocally fine-tuned as the version sung by En Vogue, the point still got across to the team. We were getting ready to go back to 'reality,' or whatever life we had before our trip to the Bahamas.
“Before waking up, seeing Cable Beach from our hotel balcony, before eating 5-star meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and before the boat trips and deep sea snorkeling adventures.
“The trip was great for our team overall. We took care of business on the court, winning all three of our games, and we were able to enjoy ourselves off the court. In our final game on Saturday night, we defeated the Grand Bahama All-Stars, 85-74. We were up by as many as 24 points before they began to catch fire from 3.
“Junior guard Pendarvis Williams had his best game, scoring 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds as well as five assists in 31 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Jamel Fuentes jokingly said, 'Penny had LeBron numbers tonight.' If Penny had LeBron numbers, then Fuentes' numbers were similar to Rajon Rondo. Jamel had averaged over 10 assists (per game) on the trip and displayed the qualities of a floor general on both ends of the floor.
“JUCO transfer Zieyik Remy Estime capped off his great shooting on this trip by going 6-of-11 from the field for 15 points. Brandon Goode has also really improved and will be a major factor this year. This was a great trip for us, not only to get away and enjoy the Bahamas but for our team chemistry as well. Aside from losing four starters from last year we also lost key reserve Brandon Wheeless, who showed up big for us all year.
“I'm confident that we have players to step up and fill all the roles that are left vacant from last year, and the Bahamas trip was a great momentum builder going into the season. Not only the three games we played, but the eight practices we were able to have as well. I'm confident in our team and believe we will make some noise in our conference. This was definitely a great start in that direction.”
