Jayhawks’ Johnson rises to meet March moment

NEW ORLEANS -- He took off from just inside the free-throw line and threw down a dunk worthy of a tweet or Facebook post or however best to share a moment in the social media world.

"One of the officials looks over to me," Anthony Brown recalled Friday, "and says, 'I didn't know that kid had wings.' And I said, 'He forgot his cape today.' He was a junior in high school then.

"I first saw him in middle school. I knew then how talented he was. But it's just now where he seems comfortable with all that ability and in his own skin, with being able to jump out of a gym and being this fast and not being shy about it.

"He seems like he can finally accept walking into a gym and being Batman instead of Robin."

The Final Four is a stage unlike few in sports and elicits the sort of magic that can lift certain basketball players to a status many never predicted for them.

But that's the thing about Elijah Johnson. There never really has been a time when people didn't think he would be great, among them Brown, his AAU coach.

Johnson just needed to believe it, is all.

Hoping it will happen for someone and then watching as it does are two incredibly different things, and those who thought Johnson one day would rise to a level few ever know are celebrating like crazy right now in a town known for its ability to throw parties. They are here hoping Johnson remembers his cape.

From the backcourt of Cheyenne High School to the hallowed grounds of Lawrence, Kan., Johnson has helped lead the Jayhawks to a national semifinal against Ohio State at the Superdome today.

A victory for Kansas would mean a spot in Monday's NCAA final and, if it is to happen, Johnson needs to be all sorts of Batman against the Buckeyes.

This wasn't him two years ago, when Kansas played in a holiday tournament at Orleans Arena and the freshman Johnson was struggling to find a place at one of the game's most historic programs.

Back then, he wasn't even Alfred the butler.

Johnson was having trouble adjusting, to his team, his coach, the style of play Kansas demands of its athletes, the Midwest prairies beyond Allen Fieldhouse.

"I think Elijah is probably as talented or right up there as talented as any guard we've recruited here when you talk about explosiveness, touch, vision," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I mean, he has all the physical attributes, plus he's got a great skill set. He's really, really talented, but he hadn't put it all together yet (two years ago).

"He didn't put it all together in high school. He was close. I thought it was just a matter of time before we actually saw what he could become. I still think he's just scratching the surface of what it is. He's played great the last month for us, probably been as good a performer as we've had in the tournament. But, again, I think he's still got another big step to take."

The media in Kansas and across the country have fallen in love with Johnson's journey during this NCAA Tournament run, with a young man from Gary, Ind., moving to Las Vegas in the seventh grade, the only one of five children who remained with their father (Marcus) when the family split, who found a home with Brown and the Las Vegas Prospects, who was travel-ball teammates with Anthony Marshall (UNLV) and Pierre Jackson (Baylor), who as a 6-foot-4-inch junior has gone from a kid some felt didn't play hard all the time to one averaging nearly 16 points in his past six games.

From being homesick and unsure of himself to one win from the ultimate of college stages.

"I think I've become much more mature," Johnson said. "I had to understand how the college system works, how college basketball is supposed to be played. I think all of that shows in my game now."

Hey, even Bruce Wayne had to train himself to fight crime.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from noon to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN Radio 1100 AM and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.