A former Brave clears the air about transfer

I received a telephone call the other day, one that could interest area high school basketball fans -- particularly those who pay special attention to local small schools.

The call came from Melvin Johnson, whose son Domintrix is a junior point guard at Bell City High School. Domintrix is one of the top small-school performers in the state -- perhaps one of Missouri's top point guards in any class -- who helped lead the Cubs to last season's Class 1 championship and has them ranked among the best in Class 1 this year.

First, for a little background. Domintrix transferred to Bell City from Scott County Central prior to his sophomore year. And, as often happens in those cases, charges of recruiting directed at Cubs coach David Heeb -- who happens to be a Scott County Central graduate --have run rampant, although nothing has been proven.

Anyway, when my office phone rang, it was Melvin Johnson, whom I have never met. Melvin, cordial and polite, said he simply wanted to clear up misconceptions regarding his son and set the record straight as to why Dominitrix switched schools and why Melvin moved his entire family, including wife Bridgett and several other children, to Bell City.

First, Melvin wanted me to have some background about him and Bridgett. Both graduated from Scott County Central, and both played on state championship basketball teams in the 1980s.

According to Melvin, in a perfect world, all of his and Bridgett's children would have gone on to graduate from Scott County Central.

And also according to Melvin, nobody from Bell City approached him regarding the possibility of Dominitrix switching schools to play basketball for the Cubs.

But Melvin said he was concerned because Dominitrix was faring poorly in the classroom at Scott County Central. And he learned Bell City had a strong academic reputation.

"My son was failing at Scott County Central. His grades were so bad," Melvin told me. "I saw Bell City was No. 3 in the state in MAP scoring. That's what I made my decision on. It never had anything to do with basketball."

That was in May of 2001, said Melvin. It was hard to uproot his family and move to Bell City. He took heat from Bridgett and the kids, with Dominitrix perhaps the most vocal opponent.

"I caught flak from my whole family. Nobody wanted to move, except me," Melvin said. "Dominitrix really didn't want to. I didn't even know if he would play basketball at Bell City.

"I told him it's not about athletics, it's about academics. I feel like I made the best decision for my kids, and it worked out. Dominitrix is getting very good grades now."

Melvin said he is not making any of the comments to denigrate Scott County Central. Most of all, Melvin said, he wants to explain his side of the story.

"The reason I wanted to tell somebody this," Melvin said, sighing, "is I just want people to leave him alone."

It sounds like a fair enough request.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.