When Dakari Johnson returned to campus for summer classes in June, one of his first meetings was with Rock Oliver, coordinator for men's basketball performance, and Monica Fowler, the team's registered dietician. Together, the three devised a plan that would allow Johnson to build on a promising freshman season that saw him average 5.2 points and 3.9 rebounds.
For the first few weeks, Oliver and Fowler sat with Johnson at meals and helped him identify healthy options. A quick study, Johnson didn't take long catching on, though he admits it wasn't always easy.
“In the beginning it's hard,” Johnson said. “(Oliver) really stays on me. He stayed on me in the beginning of the summer until I got it and I got what I needed to do and what I needed to eat and what I needed to do right. Then he kind of laid off and I just kept on doing it after that.”
Of course, Johnson's decision to bypass the NBA Draft had a lot to do with wanting to win the national championship he so narrowly missed out on in April.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.