Freshman forward capable of much more than cohesive sentence

Omari Johnson loves to write, no matter the topic.

So, Oregon State’s freshman forward was asked: “What would he be sure to say about himself in a biographical story?”

How would the 6-foot-7 forward portray himself to those who don’t know the quiet Los Angeleno as well as his teammates?

“That he’s a humble kid who loves to play basketball, and is a mama’s boy, but in a good way,” Johnson said Tuesday. “He loves his mother,” former Florida Tech player Jennifer Gordon.

“She’s been there for me my whole life, taking me to games, giving me shelter. She did stuff she didn’t have to. A lot.”

Johnson was OSU’s best player on last week’s Arizona trip, averaging 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting .522 overall and .429 (3-for-7) on 3-pointers. His introduction to the Pacific-10 Conference continues tonight, when OSU (6-8, 0-2) starts the home conference season at 6 p.m. against No. 23 Stanford (12-2, 1-1).

OSU also plays unranked California (10-3, 1-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be televised by FSN (34).

Johnson’s mother drove to Tempe for last Saturday’s Arizona State game. Television — and a followup phone call instead of personal analysis — must suffice this week.

“She’s rough, she critiques me so bad, she’s hard,” Johnson said, laughing, when asked if mom is a tough grader. “She’s like a drill sergeant, she knows so much about basketball, she tries to teach me at all times.”

Her instructional forte is rebounding and defense.

“She taught me how to get position with my body, and she’s a good defender,” Johnson said. “My mom knows what she’s talking about.”

Could she post up Omari, even at 5-11?

“I wouldn’t let her,” Johnson said. “But if I were her height, she would dominate me. I saw her play in an adult league at a park, she destroyed all those young girls.”

Johnson has gained 15 pounds since arriving in Corvallis this past summer. Still, bulkier opponents see his lean frame and immediately assume they’re in for a big night offensively.

“They call for the ball like they can punk me,” he said. “But I’ve learned to fight back, take angles, get lower, know which way to post up and stuff, because I’m not as strong as everybody else.”

However, coach Jay John said Johnson is stronger than he looks, especially through the hips, the key to quickness and leverage.

“That allows him to maneuver inside with all the bigger bodies,” John said. “He can be elusive inside, keep bodies off of him and still elevate.

“His skill level and explosiveness allow him to get the ball up on the glass. When he gets big-boy weight on him, he’s just going to keep getting better and better.”

Johnson’s season started inauspiciously when he fractured several bones in his right cheek during locker room horseplay with Calvin Hampton.

“We were playing around a little too much,” Johnson said. “It was just a little manly wrestling thing, we had teams and we were just wrestling” when he was accidentally bashed in the face. “No more of that.”

Johnson was sidelined for nearly two months of practice and didn’t play until the Dec. 16 loss to Tennessee Tech at Gill Coliseum. He sat on the end of the bench in street clothes, and quietly suffered.

“The first game, tears came to my eyes, I was so mad,” Johnson said. “Then at the UC Davis game, when the crowd was packed, the atmosphere got to me and I really wanted to play.

“Watching practice and not being able to do what they could do, it was pretty bad. (When he was cleared) I was so happy I couldn’t wait to practice, to play, to catch a ball.”

The bone has healed, but he’ll wear a protective facemask for several more weeks.

“You get used to it, you know your angles to look,” he said. “It’s sweaty. Watch me in the huddle, I’m washing it out with a towel or something.”

And it took him several weeks to regain his rhythm and conditioning. However, he played 73 combined minutes in Arizona and figures to get at least 30 minutes nightly from now on as his stamina increases.

“He shot 50 percent and was one of our better rebounders,” in Arizona, John said. “He plays hard, learns quickly, and he’s pretty much unflappable.

“There’s an inner spirit, a lot of resolve. He’s truly competitive but not demonstrative. My experience is, guys with that mindset develop faster, learn quicker and retain what they learn. We’re going to see a continuous ascension.”

Omari Johnson

WHO: Freshman forward on the Oregon State men’s basketball team.

AGE/SIZE: 18/6-foot-7, 205 pounds

HOMETOWN: Los Angeles

EDUCATION: Graduated from Dorsey High in 2007; exploratory studies major at OSU but may study journalism.

FAMILY: Son of Jennifer Gordon and Dave Johnson; brothers Shamir and Kahlil.

STATS: Averaging 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists.

ETC.: Was a CIF L.A. City Section first-team all-star and Coliseum League all-star in 2007 when he averaged 18.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. ... Named to Long Beach Press-Telegram newspaper’s Best of the West list as a third-teamer. ... His mother played basketball at Florida Tech; his father played at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. ... Johnson was born in Jamaica and moved to the New York City borough of Queens at 2 years of age. When he was 7, his family visited Los Angeles to see relatives; his mother liked the area so much they decided to move there.

QUOTE: “I look forward to challenges. I like big stages, hard competition. That’s what I came to the Pac-10 for,” — Omari Johnson.