When Ka’lia Johnson ran the floor for coach Kevin Coffey at Thomas Dale as a freshman, everyone could see that she was a special player. When she signed her NCAA National Letter of Intent to play at Duke University, the community was bursting with pride. Now, the 5-foot-11 backcourt specialists will be taking her talents from Chester to the Czech Republic as she signed to play professionally with BLK Slavia Praha.
“It’s exciting to achieve my goal of becoming a professional athlete,” Johnson said. “I worked very hard to achieve that goal and will keep working hard.”
Johnson was noticed at a combine in Florida, and actually had discussions with the WNBA, chiefly Atlanta Dream coach Michael Cooper, a member of the very good, and very popular “Showtime” Lakers teams of the 1980s. A big basketball fan, Johnson found herself a bit starstruck.
“Just talking to him and knowing what he did was crazy,” Johnson said (stick with one way and stay with it). “He played with Magic Johnson everyday, and played against Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.”
Unfortunately, Johnson wasn’t drafted, but three German teams and BLK Slavia sought after her services. The athletic wing, who’s training five days a week will ship out to Europe on September 1.
“I’m in the best shape of my life,” Johnson said. “I’m working hard but I’m also not trying to burn myself out. I make sure I enjoy the weekends with my family.”
Johnson’s workout regimen consists of many short, intense workouts throughout the week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are full-body days while Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for cardio – riding bikes, jogging or running the bleachers at Thomas Dale. There’s also plenty of shots going up every day.
“Shooting a basketball is like brushing my teeth,” Johnson said. “I do it every day.”
Though her career at Duke didn’t blossom until her upperclass years, she kept her head down. Despite little playing time her first two seasons, she worked on correcting a few things like staying in better shape.
“Not playing much was very difficult, I hated it,” Johnson said. “But I felt myself getting better everyday.”
During her senior season, Johnson was able to show her skill. Starting the year far down the depth chart, she found herself thrust into an important role when three teammates were lost to season-ending injuries. The Blue Devils fell in the Sweet 16 to Maryland last season.
An example to many players from the area, Johnson said she thought that more girls should take basketball seriously.
“Many girls say they want to be a basketball player but are afraid to put in the work,” Johnson said. “You see basketball, but you don’t see all the avenues that basketball can take you.”
The former Knights player emphasized hard work to achieve goals and remembered her times with her teammates from some very successful Knights teams – Alyssa Frye (College of Charleston), Andrea Hobbs (Christopher Newport) and Shawnee Sweeney (Maryland-Eastern Shore).
“Thomas Dale treated me well,” Johnson said. “I know they are rebuilding right now but I have no doubts they’ll get back to the top soon.”
Johnson joins former Matoaca standout Tamara Nesmith in the professional ranks. Nesmith played in Finland last season after a record-setting career at Mount Olive College.
Johnson graduated with a degree in sociology with a minor in cultural anthropology and plans to get into coaching after her playing days are over.
BLK Slavia’s page on basketball.eurobasket.com has not yet been updated for the coming season, but results and updates can be found there and via our twitter feed, @VNewsSports.
