Southeast Missouri State men's basketball player Johnson is ready to spread his wings

~ The Southeast sophomore nearly left the men's basketball team after last season

Nino Johnson nearly ended his Southeast Missouri State basketball career before it ever really got going.

Johnson is glad he stuck around. So is Southeast coach Dickey Nutt, who expects big things from his talented sophomore forward.

"He's going to be a force in our league," Nutt said. "He's one of our most improved players. You'll see a guy 15 pounds heavier and an inch taller than he was last year. He changed his body.

"He's pushing to be one of the best players on our team. He's so big, so strong, so talented. He's really maturing in so many areas of his life."

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound native of Memphis, Tenn., who was one of Nutt's recruiting coups, almost put that big frame to use at another school.

Johnson apparently decided that Southeast wasn't the place for him following a freshman season that saw him flash his potential during limited playing time.

Johnson signed a letter of intent with Northeast Mississippi Community College during a ceremony May 15 on the Northeast campus in Booneville, Miss.

But junior college letters of intent are nonbinding, and it wasn't long before Johnson apparently had a change of heart about leaving Southeast. Nutt announced about two weeks later that Johnson would remain with the Redhawks.

Johnson said the blame for what transpired lies totally with him, but the bottom line is he's elated to still be playing for the Redhawks.

"It was just. ... I wasn't very mature. I just made a decision on my own," Johnson said. "I talked to my people, my mother, my sister, my father. I talked to Northeast also. Of course they wanted me. But it wasn't too much of a deal after we all looked at the bigger picture."

Johnson said he was frustrated about his lack of playing time during his rookie Southeast season and simply made a rash decision that he was glad he could correct.

"I was disappointed I didn't get to play more," Johnson said. "Coach [Nutt] made me realize what I needed to do, what I needed to work on.

"I'm very happy, very excited to be here. We've got a great team. We've been working hard. Everybody is focused."

Nutt said that Johnson's family apparently knew nothing about his signing with the junior college. Sources said one of Johnson's former AAU coaches, who had been trying to get Johnson to leave Southeast, finally convinced him that Northeast was the right place.

"I knew the future was very bright for Nino. I discounted all that, his decision in the spring," Nutt said. "People were in his ear. I attributed that to youth, inexperience. We all make mistakes.

"I was so glad his dad, his mom, his sister, everybody got involved. He took the blame himself for his lack of playing time. He admitted it was all on him. I was proud of him for that."

Nutt said Johnson's increased maturity is evidenced, among other things, by the way he worked to build up his body and by the way he worked in the classroom.

"He's got his priorities in order," Nutt said. "He got in the classroom, took nine hours this summer and had a 4.0 GPA. You look at that, you look at his body. ... He's a totally different man, on and off the floor."

Johnson agrees with Nutt about how much he has matured.

"I would say that. It's just a mind thing," he said. "I realized what's important, that things weren't always going to come easy, and I had to work for them."

Johnson is regarded as one of Southeast's future cornerstones and a key player for this season as the emerging Redhawks try to continue their push up the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

Johnson averaged 2.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game during the 2011-12 campaign. He played in 26 of the Redhawks' 31 games, all off the bench, and averaged 7.8 minutes per contest.

Johnson blocked eight shots, tied for third-most on the team. His 58.8 field-goal percentage was second on the squad.

"I think the sky's the limit for Nino," Nutt said.

Johnson, who was ranked the nation's No. 17 high school power forward by ESPN's college basketball recruiting website at one time, is expected to form a potent inside combination with all-conference junior forward Tyler Stone.

Johnson plans to make the most of his increased playing time this season.

"I've got a big chip on my shoulder," he said. "I've got a lot to prove."