How sophomore Dallion Johnson stole the show in Penn State’s Senior Night game
Penn State men’s basketball, in a transition year, celebrated seven seniors in Friday night’s Senior Night game. John Harrar, Myles Dread, Sam Sessoms, Jalen Pickett, Jaheam Cornwall, Greg Lee and Jalanni White were all honored prior to the game against Northwestern.
Dread and Harrar have spent their careers as Nittany Lions, Sessoms has been with the team for two years and the four others are in their first year as part of the program.
All of that college experience gives the team a veteran edge most nights despite their lack of time together as a group.
Yet on Friday night it was the youth that stole the show.
Sophomore guard Dallion Johnson led the team with 15 points and fueled Penn State’s 67-60 comeback victory against the Wildcats at the Bryce Jordan Center.
“Dallion’s a freshman right? He didn’t get a chance to play very much last year,” Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We brought him along slowly to make sure he was doing the right things to earn time on the court. ... He earned his way to where he is. ... He’s one of our hardest workers.”
Johnson has recently seen a large uptick in minutes and has been a consistent starter for the team as its season comes to an end. He’s been an important addition to the rotation, but still has moments where his youth shows.
Early in Friday’s game, Johnson passed up an open shot and heard it from Dread and Shrewsberry. The moment was, in a way, a pivot point for the young guard.
Johnson went from one attempted 3-pointer in the first half, to eight in the second. He turned it on, firing from beyond the arc and making an indelible mark on the game.
The sophomore said the moment he passed up the shot changed things for him.
“It got to me a little bit, but I try not to dwell on it too long,” Johnson said. “I just had to keep my head and stay composed. It was a tough first half. We went back in the locker room and talked about it. We stayed positive. It’s all we could do.”
His ability to find spaces in the defense proved pivotal for a Penn State team that began the game struggling on offense. The Nittany Lions scored only 22 points in the game’s first 20 minutes and couldn’t get anything to come easy.
Then Northwestern head coach Chris Collins made the same change Maryland did when it beat Penn State Monday night in College Park. He switched his defense to a 3-2 zone, but this time Shrewsberry and his offense had an answer.
“We went to the zone, we did get some stops,” Collins said. “Johnson was just able to get to the corner there. I’m not sure if there was anything different they were doing. I think they just kind of made a nice extra pass to the corner and we were a little bit late on the rotation. ... Give them credit for that.”
They began to find ways to get the ball on the interior and force the outer shell of the defense to help down, leaving shooters like Johnson open to take advantage. It was that stretch that changed the game and gave the Johnson the confidence to keep firing, finishing 5 of 9 from beyond the arc in the game.
His play and impact can be traced back much further than the game’s own turning point. His relationship with the veterans has greatly impacted what he’s been able to accomplish on the court.
“They’ve helped me a lot,” Johnson said. “John is the main person that really took me under his wing. His leadership, I follow. I hope to be a leader like him one day, in a couple years or a few years. A lot of what he’s done has definitely helped me with my growth, and I’d like to carry that for the next couple years.”
The senior center could see the impact coming, and his pride for his teammate came out after the game. Harrar, who dominated on his own with 11 points and 20 rebounds, was proud of what Johnson was able to accomplish.
More importantly, he was proud of what it means for the future of the program. Harrar has been a pillar for Shrewsberry’s culture in his first year as head coach. He set the standard for how the players on the roster carry themselves and what they do.
“(Johnson is) a guy that, when he wasn’t playing at all, he goes into the practice gym and gets shots up every single game, afterwards,” Shrewsberry said. “While John is in the weight room lifting. But he sees that. He sees what John’s work ethic has done for him and now that pays off for Dallion.
“... John’s not gonna be here next year, but he set our team up, he set this program up, in terms of what hard work looks like. And now Dallion can carry that on.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 10:43 PM.
