Kedrian Johnson putting together his best season after growing into a complete point guard

MORGANTOWN — After taking a hard fall directly on his hip against Buffalo, Kedrian Johnson needed an extra second, or two, to get back on his feet.

He refused to stay down for the count, because that’s just who Johnson is.

“Every time (WVU coach Bob Huggins) asks me how I’m feeling, I just say I’ll be all right,” said Johnson, who battled through the same hip pain last season. “So, I’ll be all right.”

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It’s a mind set of overcoming obstacles and even constant pain the WVU point guard has built during his three seasons with the Mountaineers, who host Stony Brook (4-8) at 6 p.m. Thursday inside the Coliseum.

“We need him,” Huggins said. “He and I have had several conversations about needing him to, one, run the show, but more importantly to be able to score it as well.”

Those were the words in Johnson’s mind this summer after spending countless hours in the gym fine-tuning his game.

In Johnson’s words, he felt he could have done more offensively last season, when WVU (9-2) battled through a frustrating 16-17 season and missed out on postseason play, but his confidence to just let himself go wasn’t there.

He had spent his first season in Morgantown barely playing and then was thrust into the starting role last season after Deuce McBride left school early for the NBA Draft.

Coming back for his last season of eligibility, Johnson wasn’t about to hold back anymore.

That shows in his overall play. Already known as the team’s top defender, Johnson has added a reckless abandon to his offensive game, driving to the basket and throwing his body up against the big boys.

And somehow Johnson has found a way to get those shots to go in.

“There was one where we were at the end of the shot clock,” Johnson said. “I had caught the ball and slipped, and I told myself I’ve got to go. I don’t know, I just got the shot up and it went in.

“It’s crazy, because in practice, I’ll make weird one-handed shots like that. I don’t know how. If I can get the ball up, I’ve got a good chance of making it.”

His offensive numbers — 8.8 points and 3.5 assists per game — are his best at WVU at a time when the Mountaineers are putting together maybe its best offensive season under Huggins.

“It just shows our versatility, that we have multiple guys who can put the ball in the goal,” Johnson said. “I think it would be hard for teams in our conference. They don’t know who to put the spotlight on.”

Johnson is a part of that versatility now. He’s scored in double figures five times this season, one more than he had all of last season.

That much he credits to the work he put in the summer, but he’s become a more complete point guard by seeing his assist numbers double from last season.

“We wanted Kedy to grow into being a point guard,” Huggins said. “We did the same thing with (Jevon Carter) and we did the same thing with Deuce.

“He’s worked at. He’s put the time in. He’s shooting the ball way better than he was shooting the ball before.”

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