Poor Keon Johnson. The 5’6 Winthrop point guard is the 10th-leading scorer in the country, but he’s also 5’6. And when you’re 5’6, this kind of stuff can happen.
Winthrop’s Keon Johnson learns the pain of being 5’6 in March Madness
It sucks being small.
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
They don’t have lockdown defenders like Butler’s Kamar Baldwin or shot-blockers like Tyler Wideman in the Big South. That’s the pitfall of being an underdog against a top seed.
But don’t expect Johnson to cower in fear.
He put up 38 points against Illinois earlier this season and finds ways to wiggle to the free-throw line even against the trees. He averaged more than six free throw attempts per game, one of the top marks in the Big South Conference. He’s also not afraid to launch moonballs from downtown.
He likes to use his size as an advantage, not a disadvantage. In an essay for The Players Tribune, Johnson discussed how he showed up to an AAU event as a freshman to find that some players were taller than him sitting down. But he worked to overcome that:
I pride myself on my ability to create separation — on being faster than the bigger guys guarding me — but I have also learned to take what the game gives me. If they’re sagging off, I’m going to step back on ’em and hit them with the👌. If they’re hemming me tight, then I can blow by them, fill the lane and get some contact, and go to the foul line.
Still, he’s 5’6. And when you’re 5’6, you’re going to get your shot blocked from time to time.
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