Far from home, Gamecocks newcomer Meechie Johnson is ready to ‘surprise’ USC fans
When South Carolina junior guard Meechie Johnson looks at star teammate GG Jackson’s situation, he sees shades of himself. He sees parallels to his own story.
Though Johnson never ranked as the top overall player in his class — like Jackson did for the Class of 2023 — he was considered one of the top players in Ohio and one of the better point guards in the country as a high schooler. Much like Jackson, Johnson chose to stay in his home state for college, playing for his childhood dream school Ohio State.
Johnson thought he’d be a hometown hero, just like Ridge View’s Jackson is expected to become with the Gamecocks. But things went another way.
Injury struck Johnson immediately, and he struggled to adapt to playing with a facemask. Used to being The Guy at Garfield Heights High in Cleveland, Johnson found himself playing a bit part with the loaded Buckeyes. Instead of manning the point, he mostly played off the ball and averaged just 13 minutes per game across two seasons. He never thought he got to show Ohio State fans the real Meechie Johnson.
After his second season, Johnson made the painstaking decision to enter the transfer portal. He wanted the chance to play point guard somewhere. To be more than a role player. To be a leader.
In one of his first acts of leadership for the Gamecocks — to whom he transferred this spring — Johnson has tried to counsel the 17-year-old Jackson on how to deal with the stressors of playing for an entire city.
“I just tell him like, ‘Man, no pressure, you go out there, you be yourself and try to block out the noise,’ ” Johnson said. “And that’s something I had to learn. Being in Ohio State, I had to learn that on my own. So I tried to give that advice to him. But that’s something that he’s also going to have to grow into on his own with being in the games and being in front of the hometown crowd.”
For Johnson, there’s both a sense of unease and a feeling of freedom that comes from being far away from home. Ohio is all he’s ever known. He misses his family and his friends. He worries about his grandparents who are dealing with cancer.
But Johnson also knows there’s a massive opportunity in front of him to seize the point guard position at USC and to make his mark as a starter at the college level. He’s placed his trust in first-year head coach Lamont Paris and the brand-new system he’s installing in Columbia. And already, Paris and the Gamecocks have raved about Johnson, labeling him as one of the team’s biggest surprises over fall practices.
“Meechie’s one of the fastest guys I’ve ever played with,” said Hayden Brown, a transfer forward from The Citadel. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen his speed utilized in the way that he uses it.
“He has shocked me from Day 1 with his ability to pass the ball — the areas and the slivers that he’ll able to sneak the ball through or find me or any of the guys. His ability to pass I think is underrated. I myself underrated it at first, but he’s a phenomenal player. I’m really excited to play all season with him.”
Free from the pressures of playing for his dream school, Johnson said he’s ready to have fun again on the basketball court. He wants to show South Carolina fans what he wasn’t able to show Buckeyes fans.
“I feel like they’re going to see a lot of that high school side of me — that was the No. 2 point guard in the country three, four years ago,” Johnson said. “I feel like a lot of people are gonna be like, ‘Wow.’
“I’m excited, man. I feel like people are going to be surprised at the playmaking and shooting abilities I can bring to South Carolina.”
A coach’s promise
Leaving Ohio for Columbia was one of the most agonizing decisions Johnson has had to make in his young life, and it’s not one he made lightly.
“I’m an Ohio kid, and growing up Ohio State was a dream school for me, like that’s somewhere I always wanted to go,” Johnson said. “I felt like I disappointed so many people. It was a difficult time, and I had to really mature and grow up fast.”
Part of what gave Johnson comfort in picking the Gamecocks is he knew he was committing to a fellow Ohio kid in the form of Paris. Raised in Findlay, Ohio, Paris had spent most of his career in the Midwest before taking the head coaching job at Chattanooga five years ago.
When Paris talked with Johnson during the transfer portal process, he made the former Buckeye a promise.
“He told me, ‘Listen, you’re from Ohio. I’m from Ohio. I’m not gonna let you come here and fail. I know how difficult this is for you to go away from your family and be far,’” Johnson recalled. “So I trust Coach Paris. He’s a great coach, one of the best I’ve played for. I learn from him every day.”
That trust appears to be mutual.
Though we haven’t yet seen Paris’ system in action at USC, the 47-year-old head coach has laid out a specific vision of what he wants the point guard position to look like. Precise, turnover-free passing comes first. But Paris also views the position as more than just the guard who brings the ball up the court. He’s looking for a motivator, someone who can push his teammates when needed, who can direct traffic on the court and can work in tune with the coaching staff.
“A lot of those qualities, Meechie has,” Paris said, “which excites me as a coach to have someone playing point that you can talk to. I can get on. I can criticize.
“There’s a lot of responsibility with that position. I’m going to tell you some things that you’re not going want to hear, and you got to filter all that and then get the message to the players the way they need to hear it.”
If preseason practices are any indication, Johnson already has the makings of a team leader. And he wants to make a splash with his play, too. Paris jokes that Johnson’s shooting range is from “the moon,” which Johnson displayed in the team’s Garnet & Black Madness scrimmage. Johnson led all scorers with 11 points, made a pair of 3-pointers and even finished second to Jackson in the dunk contest.
Ohio State fans didn’t get to see those talents. But Johnson is ready to show Colonial Life Arena what he can do. At his best, he describes his play style as “dangerous.”
“It’s very, very dangerous,” Johnson said, smiling. “I think people are gonna be surprised with some of the stuff they see this year from me. And a lot of that just comes from the confidence my coaches and teammates have in me. You’re gonna see a different player.”
