Marcus Johnson stays focused thanks to support from family

Career achievement

DAYTON — Marcus Johnson has had bruised ribs, a sore wrist and a sprained foot already this season. And with the injuries mounting and his production taking a noticeable dip, his family was aching right along with him.

A preseason second-team All-Atlantic 10 pick, the University of Dayton senior guard has averaged just 7.9 points. He made only five of his first 31 3-pointers and was shooting less than 50 percent from the foul line until a 4-for-4 effort against Xavier on Saturday.

In his previous two seasons combined, the Cleveland native shot 46 percent from the field, 70 percent on free throws and averaged 10.9 points.

Felicia Jefferies, Marcus’ mother, has seen every game this year either in person or over the Internet and has been a valuable source of encouragement through the down times.

“Marcus loves the game, and I’m looking at his stats, and I’m saying, ‘What’s happening?’ ” she said. “After those injuries, we talked about it, and I told him, ‘Don’t lose hope. You’ll get it back together. This is something you’ve been doing all along, and you don’t forget. You just need time to recover.

“Once you get injured, (fans) kind of put you away and move on to the next player. Just because it’s his last year, we want him to go out with a bang and have fun doing it.”

Florine Alford, Marcus’ maternal grandmother, has attended one game this year and listened to the others as they’re streamed through UD’s Web site. She’s tried to help her grandson see the big picture.

“People are always going to comment — good, bad or whatever — no matter what you’re doing, especially when you’re in the spotlight like they are,” she said. “Things will work out for him, one way or the other — whether it will be in basketball or something else. I know basketball is what he hopes it will be. But if not, he’ll be graduating and will have a degree.”

Johnson has shown signs of breaking out of his funk. He scored a season-high 17 points against Xavier and has shot 47 percent from the field and 40 percent on 3-pointers while averaging 9.2 points in the last five games.

“It’s been very tough,” Johnson said. “I think some of the coaches and even my family could see how hard it is. They’d say, ‘Stay positive, don’t get discouraged, just keep fighting. You’re not going to make every shot or you’re not going to have your best practice every time.’

“Right now, I feel pretty good. I’m pushing myself to get back in the swing of things, to get the regular Marcus back on both ends of the floor.”

Considering all that’s within the Flyers’ reach this season, the return of the regular Marcus couldn’t come at a better time.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris @DaytonDailyNews.com.