Tiger star's number is retired

For Dave Johnson, Tuesday’s retirement of his Morgan City High School basketball jersey represented a full-circle journey for his hoops career that also included time on the collegiate and professional levels.
The ex-Morgan City High School standout, who also attended Maine Central Institute — a private school for ninth grade through postgraduates in Pittsfield, Maine — said the opportunity to have his jersey retired by Morgan City was “special.”
“It’s special because I think, the way it was read, that’s kind of the culmination of a career at the end of the day, and where it all started from, this is where I was born and raised at. …
“It’s special for me because I had two older brothers that wore that jersey, and I thought they were pretty good players too, Rodney Johnson and Kevin Johnson,” Dave Johnson said after the ceremony at halftime of Morgan City High School’s contest with Assumption High.
After starring at Syracuse University, Johnson was taken with the 26th pick in the 1992 NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers, fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming an NBA player. He competed just two years in the NBA — a year apiece with the Trailblazers and the Chicago Bulls — before playing overseas and in the Continental Basketball Association.
However, he said he never gave up on the prospects of returning to the NBA.
“I could have done a lot better financially had I just stayed overseas, but I think you just want to play at the highest level and the most competitive level,” Johnson said.
He said he attended preseason camp with the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks multiple times, the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, all in hopes of reviving his NBA career.
Johnson said he hopes to see other Tiger standouts like Kevin Johnson, Joey Brown and Shawn Long have their jerseys retired.
Johnson’s brother, Kevin, is an assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he coaches Long, a senior basketball standout.
Morgan City High School Athletic Director Scott Tregle said he foresees more jersey retirements in the future.
Dave Johnson retired from basketball in 2001 and now lives in Arlington, Texas, where he is a real estate agent.
“When I retired in 2001, didn’t know exactly what I was going to get into,” he said. “My father had always had a hand in real estate with some rental properties here in the area, and he said, ‘hey, why don’t you go ahead and get into real estate.’ And I had a lady I went to church with. I did a couple of investments.
“She said, ‘Why don’t you become an agent. You can orchestrate your own deals,’ and ever since 2006, that’s what I’ve been doing.”