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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

As the Auburn Tigers defended a six-point lead against the Arkansas Razorbacks in the second half at home, a play occurred that assured fans that Auburn was going to be just fine.

With just less than 10 minutes left in the game, the Tigers recorded a steal, and with nobody around on the other end of the court, slammed the ball home to send the crowd at Neville Arena into a frenzy and leave the players in a state of amazement.

Who was the player that stole and dunked the ball? It was senior forward Chaney Johnson. For those in attendance, that play was just one of many highlights that Johnson has had in his career. However, behind the scenes, that play is the current result of a journey that has been long and challenging.

So, while Johnson may don the orange and blue and be one of the top players off the bench in all of college basketball, the former Thompson Warrior will always bleed the red and black as he looks to close another chapter in a phenomenal career.

PRACTICE WITH FAITH

Johnson began his journey in basketball at a young age, first playing in first grade in his local Upward league. He played the sport consistently though from the time when he was in second grade all the way up to sixth grade before playing for the middle school team.

Through the years, he gradually found more and more of a love for the game, always desiring to craft his skills and to become a better player each and every day. Johnson was so focused that his friends and those around him began to take notice, a sign that propelled him to continue his efforts.

“People always told me I was a gym rat because I was in the gym more than the kids my age,” Johnson said. “I would be there early before practice and I would be the last one in there after practice.”

Year after year, Johnson continued putting in work for his development. That process, though, was driven by a power much larger than the game itself—his faith.

Johnson’s efforts have always been powered by the Bible verse Galatians 6:7-9, which discusses the effects that one’s actions will have on the future of their lives. Living by it has provided him with positive results, which all in turn points to the figure he turns to most: God.

“I kind of cling to that verse a little bit because whatever you put in is what you get out,” Johnson said. “If you put in hard work, you’re going to reap the benefits of it, so I live by that verse and it feels good to see that hard work paying off… I was just seeing my progress year-by-year as I started working harder and harder, the older I got and the more I matured. I got addicted to the process and I also got addicted to the result.”

One of those many results that he gained came in the form of playing for coach Dru Powell at Thompson High School, who Johnson views as one of greatest mentors and supporters throughout his early career.

“He just saw my work and he really believed in me and trusted in me,” Johnson said. “I always say he was one of the first coaches that really trusted in me and kind of ran the team through me honestly. Once I did get recruited before I went to UAH, he was helping me out with schools, reaching out to schools for me, and then even when I put my name in the portal, he was putting in good words for me with all the schools, so it was really a blessing to have a coach like Dru Powell in my life.”

Powell, who coached for the Warriors for four seasons, described him as the hardest-working player that he has coached in his 17-year career, crediting that trait to the religious faith that Johnson lives by and works through.

“Chaney has always led by example,” Powell said. “He knew that it was always about more than just him and God had blessed him with some talent. He’s used that in a way to honor and glorify God.”

The years of practice began to take him to new heights, and while nobody knew it at the time, the work that the former All-County player put in would soon place him against the best of the best.

“He just wanted to win,” Powell said. “It’s just his willingness to do whatever it took to be successful. Chaney’s never been about himself or what awards he can win, but it’s always been about, ‘How can our team be successful and what can I do to help it?’ I think he’s maintained that same approach, and obviously it’s paying off for him.”

CALLING GOD ON THE PLAINS 

Johnson held no offers from power programs coming out of high school and signed with the University of Alabama-Huntsville to play under longtime basketball coach John Shulman in 2020.

However, in his third season with the Chargers, Johnson got the unique opportunity to travel to Auburn University to take on the Tigers and head coach Bruce Pearl in an exhibition match prior to the season, which saw him rack up 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.

While nobody knew what Johnson’s future held at the time, Pearl was impressed by what he saw from Johnson at such a young age.

“His athleticism, his motor and having coached myself in Division II for nine years at Southern Indiana, I knew the quality of the player and the athlete,” Pearl said. “At the time we played him, the thoughts did not go through my mind that, ‘Hey, this kid could transfer up from Division II and play for Auburn.’ That did not cross my mind. But, when he wound up being in the portal, and I knew his coach for a long time, does a great job, his coach wanted to make sure that if he came to Auburn that we needed him.”

Following the end of his junior year, Johnson entered the transfer portal, and because of his performance at UAH, was gaining looks from numerous programs. While the process was difficult early on, Johnson once again leaned back towards his faith, and ultimately landed on Auburn.

“It was honestly prayer,” Johnson said. “I prayed on it real hard. I had some mid-majors and I had some high-majors start hitting me up on day two in the portal, so I just prayed when I was on my visit here at Auburn, and I feel like God pointed me here and I feel like this is the best decision I could’ve ever made.”

As it has always been though, Johnson’s journey at the highest level of college basketball has not been easy. Through his two years in the program, he has only started five games, becoming a key player off the bench for most of his time.

However, like Powell at Thompson, Pearl emphasized Johnson’s development as being some of the best he has ever seen in such a short period and is proud of the asset that he has become.

“First of all, he’s our hardest worker, and he has been for two years, and secondly, when you watch tape or you watch film of last year’s games, he’s still wearing the same number, but he fills out the jersey completely differently,” Pearl said. “His body, the work he’s put in and the job that Damon Davis has done, Emily (Daniels) our nutritionist… The work that Chaney’s put in has really made him a force.”

Like Johnson, Pearl’s emphasis on faith has become one of the pillars of the Tigers program, and as one of the nation’s top programs heading into March Madness, it has served as a mindset, and oftentimes, a celebration.

“God has done so much for me, it’s a no-brainer, why not give Him all the glory because I prayed about what school I should come to and it’s not only in that situation where God has led me, it’s been a lot of other situations,” Johnson said. “The ‘Call God’ mentality just comes from us really seeking his faith and really trying to be good and faithful servants towards him in our actions, and nobody is perfect. We all fall short, but it’s that constant wanting to get better, seeking his faith is really serving us well on and off the court.”

One of the most powerful blessings he has received has been the support provided by Pearl, as well as big men Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell, who have all helped to develop him into the player and man he currently is.

If the program did not have Johnson though, Pearl makes it clear how much of a hole would be there.

“We’d be missing one of our spiritual leaders, because Chaney is a man of faith,” Pearl said. “We’d be losing our hardest worker, we’d be losing one of our best teammates and for his size, one of our best athletes.”

CLOSING THE CHAPTER

Following the 2024-2025 season, Johnson will be out of eligibility, but that does not mean his legacy will not be felt on the Plains and in his personal life.

Johnson knows he could not be where he is without the support of his family, as it is where he gets his basketball blood from. After he leaves Auburn, he wants to give back to them as much as possible.

“They instill a lot of confidence in me,” Johnson said. “Even when I was at UAH, that’s like an hour and 45 minute-drive. They were making that drive whenever they didn’t have work to come watch me play. They really show how much they love me. That’s one of my main things that I feel like I want to do after I make it to the NBA is of course give God the glory, but give back to my family because they believed in me so much.”

That belief has been reciprocated by all who have watched Johnson play, as time goes on, the belief is still strong that he will go to great heights in his career.

“We all kind of knew that he wasn’t going to stop until he got to the highest level that he could potentially reach,” Powell said. “He’s certainly well on his way, and the progress and jump that he’s made from high school to UAH to now being a guy that the best team in the country counts on night in and night out, it’s been a remarkable journey.”

Johnson graduated in December from the Harbert College of Business with a degree in marketing. Now, all that’s left is to see where his final collegiate postseason takes him.

However, once it’s all said and done, Pearl knows that Johnson will have left a strong, faithful legacy in Neville Arena at Auburn University.

“Two years, two championships, his degree in hand, his family, his Auburn family grateful to the Johnson family and the Johnson family grateful to the Auburn family,” Pearl said.