Pure hard work behind Will's rise

Featured image: @eshots__, Eyal Shorer

Will Johnston is rightfully proud of working up from junior college to the University of Richmond before returning home to the NBL1 East with the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders, and now already shining with the defending NBL champion Sydney Kings.

Having grown up in Sydney, Johnston had big basketball dreams and has never been afraid to put in the hard work to achieve those which is what initially took him to the United States six years ago.

He started off at Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania before he had to start at the bottom in college with two years at South Georgia Technical College before things started to open up for him.

He spent a season at University of Texas Rio Grand Valley before two seasons at Loyola Marymount University, and then finishing off his college journey at Richmond.

That led to a return home to spend some time this past NBL1 East season at the Spiders and now he's grabbing his NBL opportunities already at the Kings including a 14-point, four-rebound, four-assist showing on Sunday against the Cairns Taipans.

He will now be back in action with the Kings on Wednesday in the opening night of Ignite Cup by 7-Eleven action for NBL27 against the Brisbane Bullets also at Afterpay Arena.

Getting a taste of NBL1

The 24-year-old dynamic guard returned home to Sydney earlier this year after completing his time in college and spent some time under coach Tim Hudson and alongside Illawarra Hawks NBL star Davo Hickey with Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai.

That included a tunning 41-point performance against the Newcastle Falcons while he nearly had a triple double with 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds against the Sutherland Sharks.

He played in two wins in those three games enjoyed everything about the experience.

"I played a couple of games at NBL1 East this past year and it's great, I enjoyed my time there with Tim Hudson and the Hornsby Spiders," Johnston said.

"Davo was there too and I've been real close with him and I talked to him a lot coming into this.

"But I also did most of my development in America, though, and I was there for like six years you know but it was good to come back and get a run with the NBL1 side."

Proud of journey

Considering where Johnston came from six years ago starting out in junior college at South Georgia which opened up great opportunities for him.

There was then a season at Texas Rio Grande Valley, two with Loyola Marymount, and one at Richmond, and he is rightfully proud that everything he has achieved has been through his pure hard work and determination.

Now even since he has returned home, he played those NBL1 games, he got a chance to tour with an NBL Select team to Japan and even got to play NBA Summer League with the New York Knicks before joining the Kings ahead of NBL27.

Because of all that, he already looks right at home on an NBL floor after two games.

"It's probably because I did college for about six years, you know what I mean, and I guess I am a bit older being 24 so that experience is something I'm bringing here," Johnston said.

"I'm just proud of myself you know what I mean. Coming from junior college, low-D1, mid-D1 and it's just been a grind and grind.

"I'm just really proud of myself and I'm loving life right now, and I'm the happiest I've ever been so I'm really loving it."

Fitting right in

Part of the reason that Johnston already looks so comfortable on an NBL floor right now after being part of consecutive 21-point home wins to start the new seasons is because of how well he's been embraced by the Kings' veterans.

"You know I just feel like I'm back home, I'm comfortable, I've been around coach for a while now and all those things are kinda multiple factors that play into it," Johnston said.

"Then I've got great teammates and leaders with Delly, Xave, Kendric and all those guys so it kinda just makes it easy for me to fit right in and just do my job."

Learning from superstars

While Johnston knows that some rookie guards might look at a team like the Kings who already possess Kendric Davis and Matthew Dellavedova and be scared off wanting to be part of.

Johnston had the opposite approach and wanted to be teammates of theirs, wanted to learn from them and now he is thriving as a result.

"Delly's leadership stands out right away and he's one of the best of Australian basketball, and then KD's talent is one-of-one. So just learning from those two is amazing," Johnston said.

"Coming to Sydney I knew we had KD and I knew we had Delly, and most guys would think that they are a point guard and don't want to be there, but I wanna be here and learn from those guys.

"KD's great, Delly's great and all the guys are so already getting to learn from those guys has been amazing for me."

Able to play with versatility

Johnston has great versatility as a guard too where he is a fearless shooter and scorer, but he is also a strong ball handler and playmaker, and is more than happy to play whatever role is asked of him.

"To be honest I'm just trying to get better every day whatever that is and as high as I can go," Johnston said.

"Whatever opportunity I get, I'll make the most of it. Whatever the team needs, I'm versatile, and I can score the ball if needed, but I can also run an offence if that's needed as well. So whatever this system needs me to do, I'm out here to do it."

High praise from legendary coach

Even Johnston's coach at the Kings, the legendary Brian Goorjian, is finding himself getting caught up in the infectious attitude that Johnston carries himself with.

Goorjian coached his 599th and 600th NBL victories in the first two games of Johnston's career with the seven-time championship winner excited by what he's already providing on and off the court.

"He brings an energy to it and gives everyone a lift, including the coach, and it's nice to come in there and get a big smile and a high-five, and the thing is that it's not fake and it's genuine because it's who he is," Johnston said.

"From the style of play last year, we wanted to increase the tempo and increase the push of the ball, and he does that for us.

"It lifts our pace and our ability to push the ball up the floor, and then it's also him playing off the ball next to Kendric or Delly. He's a very, very good perimeter shooter and he's fearless.

"He's walked into this and it's to me it's like he doesn’t care who he's guarding or playing against because he's played in high-level basketball and he's comfortable out there."

Hair style is staying

Another eye-catching aspect of Johnston's is the hair style he is sporting.

It might be the total opposite to his coach right now too, although not all that different to what Goorjian had back in the early days of his coaching journey.

And it's something that Johnston is planning on continuing to run with.

"I've had it since Texas Rio Grande Valley which was four years so I've had it ever since then," Johnston said.

"It's for sure, staying you know what I mean."