Keshad Johnson: Drawing Strength From Brother Getting Shot 12 Years Ago, What’s Arizona Wildcats 18 YO Star’s Story?

4th November 2011 is the date that changed the life of 14-year-old Kenny Johnson Jr. That day he was shot wide open while returning from a sleep-over at his friend’s place. The bullet having grazed his spine, forced that boy to be paralyzed from the waist down. Since then, Kenny’s younger brother has never taken anything in life for granted.

Weeks after the incident, Keshad Johnson went to a local YMCA to watch his brother’s youth basketball team play. The angels must have been watching over when Keshad, donning his brother’s No. 16 jersey, stepped on the court launching from the 3-point line. At that moment, Keshad knew that he was the chosen one.

Keshad Johnson is serving his purpose

Keshad’s brother had been shot right outside his 5th-grade classroom. Days after he peeped out of the window, he could see the blood spatter on the sidewalk. His brother, his idol, was shot. However, to god’s grace, his brother survived, putting Keshad on his path to success.

After attending a small charter school in Oakland, Keshad joined a team in the AAU circuit post his junior season. Then he switched to EYBL’s Truth Club and shared the court with players like UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., Alabama’s Jaden Shackelford, and Cincinnati’s Prince Gillam. He then started getting recognition for his game and gradually became a 3-star prospect who had almost 20 recruitment offers.

As stated by Shaun ‘Ice’ Manning’s nephew, Don Manning, “Our team was pretty good. They were playing really well, but Keshad just kept making plays all over the floor. He was meeting people at the rim, he hit some jumpers, just real tough plays, some really strong dunks. Every time we would pull away, they would fight back and it would be a play that Keshad made. It kept happening, and I was like: ‘Damn, who is this?”

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Since that initial display, Manning and Johnson have been close. Keshad is truly serving his purpose, his life oozes symbolism in the little things. For instance, initially, he played wearing his brother’s jersey number – No. 16. However, a player can’t have any jersey number above 5 in high school or college basketball. So, Keshad switched to jersey No. 2 as his brother was first.

Throwback‘s effortless motion

Manning nicknamed Johnson as the ‘throwback’, because of his old-school game development. Mesmerized with Keshad’s ability, Manning says, “What he’s able to do naturally is amazing to me. We’re playing Quad Cities, and he misses a 3 from the corner, rebounds his own miss and dunks it – boom. Two plays later, he gets a steal and windmills off one leg – boom. Another minute goes by, and in traffic he gets a shovel pass from another kid and he windmills off two feet.”

Some things come naturally to us, like an effortless motion. The same is the case with Keshad as Manning describes him to be a natural. He says, “You just don’t see that. Nobody can teach that. That’s natural ability and will. That’s what you get growing up playing at the park in Oakland, not from a trainer for three and four hours a day. Don’t get me wrong. He needs that without a doubt, and he’ll implement that. But his foundation is different and his ceiling is much higher because nobody corrupted his game.”

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What are your thoughts on Keshad’s journey of finding his strength and sense of purpose from the harsh realities of life? Tell us in the comments.