OPPONENT SPOTLIGHT: Johnson's statistics belie his importance to the Lions

Fred Johnson is not Columbia's leading scorer. As point guard, he was fourth on the team in assists last year. He had 65 turnovers to 32 assists last season, not what you usually want in a point guard. So why is this kid so important to the Lions? For one, he's the only senior on the team. He has taken that to heart and become the kind of leader coaches dream about. And he's been that kind of leader through two seasons that have been, to say the least, trying. "Without Fred, we're in trouble," junior forward Jim Tubridy said. "We need Fred to have a big game every night." How does a kid from Western Pennsylvania end up in New York City? In Johnson's case, it was a Columbia alum who pointed him out to assistant coach Paul Lee. One thing led to another, and soon Johnson was on the bench watching the heroics of Buck Jenkins. Those were good years for the Lions, who finished third one year and second the next. Johnson, playing sparingly, was along for the ride. "I thought he accepted that well," Columbia coach Jack Rohan said. "He was playing behind Omar Sanders, who was probably the best defensive player in the league, and I think he recognized why Omar was playing. We took that time and worked a lot on his shot." By the time he got around to playing his junior year, Jenkins' whole class -- the five starters and the first man off the bench -- had graduated. Left behind were Johnson, now-graduated forward Jamal Adams and a mess of freshmen and sophomores. "I sat for my first two years of high school, but when I started playing I was able to rely on sheer talent," Johnson said. "In college, it's so much more competitive that I spent virtually my entire junior season getting comfortable. This year, being the only senior, I had no choice but to feel comfortable." Rohan molded last year's team into a squad that surprised everyone in the Ivy League. The consensus last place team going into the season, the Lions roared to a 4-0 start in the Ivy League before losing to Penn -- and then everyone else -- on the way to a 4-10 season. That season and this one, which currently stands at 3-15 for Columbia, has been filled with heartbreaking losses. Thus far, this season has been trying for Johnson. "As the lone senior captain, I have to get my point across," Johnson said. "We have a lot of talent. I was hoping to go out with some kind of positive aspect." It sounds like Johnson is putting a great deal of pressure on himself. His coach certainly thinks he is. "I'm trying to get him to relax so he can go out and play and not worry," Rohan said. "He's one of the greatest kids I've met in my life," Rohan continued. "He's honest and sincere and he gets that across to the players. He's a guy they really like. He's a 100 percent solid individual in his perception of right and wrong." Rohan is comfortable enough with Johnson to poke fun at him in front of the team. As one of the shortest players on the team at six feet, Johnson is an easy target. "Because of his height, he gets teased by [Rohan] when we go out to dinner," Tubridy said. "He asks where the phone books are for Fred to sit on. He also says Fred's got a Big Wheel. Even with his height, he's got a great ball fake. That's how he gets most of his shots." With that shot, Johnson has been averaging just over seven points per game. And since leading scorer C.J. Thompkins went down with an ankle injury, Johnson has been expected to pick up more of the offensive burden. He scored 16 points in a narrow loss to Harvard last weekend. Now, as his career winds to an end, Johnson has his sights set on bigger things. "He's been down to some of the Wall Street firms," Rohan said. "There's about 12 guys from the last four years working down there and he's been down to talk to them. All the guys from downtown rave about him on the phone. "Even though he's from Western Pennsylvania, I think he'll be in New York for a while."