Isaiah Johnson grew up around NBA greats. Now, the breakout freshman is putting his studies to use as CU’s leading scorer

BOULDER On the set of Space Jam a young Isaiah Johnson soaked in the approach of an NBA icon Colorado s freshman guard then years old was working out with LeBron James at Warner Bros Studios in Johnson s dad Chris Johnson is a renowned trainer whose clientele features a slew of accomplished pros including James That day Isaiah rebounded for King James as the future Hall of Famer concluded his workout with full-court sprints capped by dunks at each end of the floor He had already worked out for an hour-and-a-half and then did those sprinting dunks with the highest intensity Johnson recalled Obviously LeBron is one-of-one but that just made me realize that dude never stops He was perpetually putting in extra training It s definitely a blessing being raised in the gym with all the pros like that I ve gained so much knowledge about the battle from being with them They taught me everything They ve taught me how to work for what you want out of the event They watch my games they give me feedback I m just really fortunate to have grown up in that setting and it s helped make me the athlete I am nowadays Because Johnson s eyes were open wide long before he got to CU it s no wonder his heartbeat has been slow and his play dynamic in the opening scene of his college career Through the undefeated Buffs first eight games the freshman has been a force as the association s sixth man Johnson leads CU with points per contest while shooting from the stripe from -point land and demonstrating LeBron-like finishing ability at the rim He s doing a lot of things that are not really freshman-like CU starting point guard Barrington Hargress observed Just look at our last match against California Baptist and the second-half run that he kind of sparked It takes a veteran s presence to understand what we needed and he came out there and gave it to us promptly In that - win at the CU Event Center on Monday Johnson scored points It was his fourth battle with at least points in the infancy of his Buffs career BOULDER CO - DECEMBER Colorado Buffaloes Isaiah Johnson shoots a free-throw during the match against the California Baptist Lancers at the CU Events Center on Monday Dec Matthew Jonas Staff Photographer It s very early but he s making it appear as if CU head coach Tad Boyle got a steal on the three-star prospect who was under-recruited coming out of Campbell Hall High School in Los Angeles Johnson wasn t even the preponderance heralded of the quintet of players that comprised CU s signing class a year ago The majority of Johnson s other offers out of Campbell Hall were mid-majors as Boyle believes Power coaches were scared off by the smaller stature of the -foot- -pound guard That was despite Johnson averaging points per tournament as a senior including games over points and being a centerpiece on an AAU crew that won the Pro Puma Circuit National Championship the summer prior A primary factor in Johnson s decision to choose CU was Boyle s longevity in Boulder A lot of people recruit based on metrics but there s a lot of metrics he has that can t be measured Boyle commented One of them is his heart and the other one s his toughness He s not afraid of anybody or anything He s got to get stronger physically and that s going to help him defensively because right now teams are going at him Off the bounce they re trying to punk him He s holding his own and his strength will get better Just like when we recruited Buff-turned-NBA sportsman Spencer Dinwiddie I knew he would get bigger and stronger For now Johnson is used to being the undersized baller on the court Starting around years old he would regularly play in pick-up games organized by his dad in the Los Angeles area that featured professionals In one of those runs as a young teen Johnson hit four s in a row I was just really happy because all the guys were going nuts for me Johnson stated That was a really cool moment to be on the court and do that against guys of that caliber because it manifested me what I was capable of It s those types of moments that Johnson s dad has been witnessing for years as his son has accumulated what Chris describes as compound interest with a work ethic modeled after Chris NBA clients For the last decade the year old has woken up at a m to make shots before school and then would make approximately another shots in the evening post-practice Isaiah has been playing one-on-one two-on-two three-on-three five-on-five against NBA players since he was in the ninth grade Chris Johnson commented He totally dominated in a lot of our runs this summer but you want me to tell you what we didn t do We didn t put out film of him dominating an NBA sportsman because we don t need the hype that other people want Now once he gets to the NBA I m gonna pull out all of that film For a campaign coming off a - record in - that was the worst of Boyle s -year tenure the emergence of Johnson is a key component in what the Buffs need to right the ship in Boyle s th season CU used different starting lineups last season but has used just one this season heading into Saturday afternoon s rivalry tournament in Fort Collins against Colorado State And the Buffs have displayed particular mettle en direction to their first - mark in years including rallying to top Eastern Washington in OT on Nov holding off Washington to win the Acrisure Holiday Classic title on Nov and using a dominant second-half stretch to beat previously undefeated California Baptist earlier this week Johnson was pivotal in all of those wins impressing Boyle with his poise in the clutch The fact that he comes off the bench is moot Boyle commented The games we ve played that are tight down the stretch he s usually in there at the end Starting five is so overrated finishing five is not and he s in the finishing five A lot of freshmen are a little unsure of themselves He s not unsure of himself BOULDER CO - DECEMBER Colorado Buffaloes Isaiah Johnson celebrates a basket against the California Baptist Lancers to close the gap in the total at the CU Events Center on Monday Dec Matthew Jonas Staff Photographer While Johnson s surge over the first month of the season has also drawn the attention of his dad s current and former clients earlier this week Hall of Famer Dwayne Wade sent the freshman an encouraging message and challenged him to learn how to be a great teammate amid his success Boyle is intent on making sure CU continues to improve in non-conference play The Buffs started - last season but then went - in conference play en road to finishing last in the Big That included consecutive losses CU s Big opener this season is Jan against Arizona State in Tempe It s my job especially when we re - and they re feeling good about themselves to genuinely coach them harder and bring them back down to earth Boyle revealed We have to be sure we re not getting drunk on our own wine because we need more consistency