The Diary: Amanda Johnson
You think you know, but you have no idea. This is the diary of basketball forward Amanda Johnson…
BY KELLY GIBLIN
Sophomore forward Amanda Johnson has recently been named to the 2010 Pac-10 Conference Women’s Basketball All-Academic First Team. Managing a 4.0 GPA and double majoring in Psychology and Sociology, Johnson is on track to graduate after four years with a Master’s Degree of her choice. In February, she was also honored academically being named to the 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division second team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Not only has Johnson thrived academically, but also averaged 12.7 points this season, a team-leading 8.5 rebounds per game and 11 double-doubles on the season. Finishing her sophomore campaign, the Santa Rosa, Calif. native tied the UO single-season history ninth place record with 290 rebounds this year.
Finishing with a 18-16 record on the 2009-10 season - a notable most wins for the program since 2004-05 – Johnson takes a look back on the season to give us an inside look a day in the life of a standout student-athlete.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that…
WRITTEN BY AMANDA JOHNSON
EDITED BY KELLY GIBLIN
My name is Amanda Johnson and I play for the women’s basketball team here at the University of Oregon. I am from northern California, from a city called Santa Rosa, which is about an hour north of San Francisco. I am a sophomore athletically but I will be finishing my undergraduate studies this summer graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology. I plan on attending grad school in the fall but have not made any final decisions at this point. This year, I have primarily played the post position for Coach Westhead and the Ducks, rotating between the 4, which includes traditional post play, and the 5 position, which fills a perimeter spot.
A typical day in my life is pretty busy. During finals week my schedule had been irregular, but I will describe a typical game day at home in my life for the past term. On Thursdays I typically woke up around 9 a.m., which is considerably late for a student-athlete. I attended class from 10-11:20 a.m. and the name of the course was SOC 410, or Mexican Migration. After class I would grab a snack and walk over to Mac Court to receive treatment and get taped before shoot-around at 1 p.m. Shoot-around would last for an hour while our team put the final touches on the strategy for the game. After shoot-around, our team would go together to eat pre-game meal either at Oregon Electric Station or Beppe & Gianni’s from 3-4 in the afternoon. After pre-game meal, I would return home to rinse off and do homework before I had to report back to Mac Court by 5:30 p.m. Once I arrived at the gym, I would get dressed, taped and ready to play. One hour before game time, we started our warm-up and pre-game ritual until 7 p.m. when our game would commence. After the game, we would receive pre-game meal catered to the locker room and I would return home to shower and do homework or head to bed. They were definitely busy days during season but very exciting.
O-Heroes thanks Amanda Johnson for sharing her experience with us. Please see more of Johnson’s achievements at goducks.com.
