I recently had the privilege of interviewing Buena Vista Head Coach, Trevor Johnson. Johnson is in his first year at BVU after spending time at Johns Hopkins and Nebraska Wesleyan. When I first started ThatD3Guy, I had the Beavers as my “Best Kept Secret” in the West Region before the season started, and they have exceeded expectations. Buena Vista sits at 15-3 overall, and 6-3 in the extremely competitive American Rivers Conference (ARC).
STYLIN’
With a high-paced offense and shooters galore, BVU has become not only a winning team, but a very fun team to watch. It all started with the man in charge, Coach Johnson, and his goals coming into BVU when he was hired back in May of 2019.
“The main thing I wanted to do was try and establish the style of play and the culture,' says Johnson. “Making sure we have guys doing things the right way, and luckily the guys bought into it right away.”
That style of play has translated into 89 points per game and lots of three-point attempts. It is the type of play style that today’s generation of players associates with the Golden State Warriors, so why wouldn’t guys want to buy in? Johnson made it clear there was buy-in from the start, “they were really happy after our first meeting with the style that I wanted.”
“I think it’s an easy sell to kids. I think the biggest change is that on this year’s roster, everyone has the green light. That breeds confidence, so when a kid isn’t worried about getting pulled for a missed shot, that makes kids better scorers.”
The Beavers are a statistical machine. BVU is 12th in the nation for scoring offense (89.2 ppg) and 7th in the nation in assists per game, dishing out 19.1 per contest. They are currently ranked 14th nationally among D3 schools in 3-point attempts with 595.
RESERVES
When looking at the BVU roster, I was immediately drawn to the fact that there was an enormous amount of players. I asked Coach Johnson, “why so many guys?”
Turns out, BVU has a “JV” or, Varsity Reserve, program.
“We had a big JV program at Nebraska Wesleyan and ours there was a little different than the one we have here,” says Johnson.
“I practice everyone at the same time here at BVU”
“I’m trying to use it to develop guys for the future of the program. It is mostly freshmen and a couple sophomores on the JV. At NWU our JV practiced separately, and we would lose those guys. So now, having the opportunity to run it myself, I like keeping them around the varsity guys. It really helps with scout team purposes.”
Johnson tells me his assistants will take some of the JV players, teach them what an upcoming opponent will be running, and have the JV run it against the varsity.
All of this helps the JV to be better prepared for their own 16 or 17 game schedule.
“I think it has really helped, watching the JV games, they are playing at a higher level than the typical JV programs in Division III play because they are always around the varsity on a daily basis."
BUILD A BETTER BOAT
Back in October as the season was just getting underway, Senior student-athlete Canyon “Moose” Hopkins passed away after his battle with cancer.
At the memorial service, Hopkins’ father used the phrase “build a better boat” when talking about doing the little things to improve everyday not only for yourself but to make everyone around you better.
“We have taken that on as a program, each day doing the little things to get better as a team. Making our boat stronger as we go forward and get ready for a post-season run.”
WHY D3?
“I really believe in the D3 model”
Johnson is no stranger to Division III, having played and coached at NWU, and his one-year stint as an assistant at Johns Hopkins.
“Kids playing ball for all the right reasons,” says Johnson. “They are doing it because they absolutely love the game. They are willing to sacrifice their time when they could be off doing other stuff. Purest form of college athletics. Division III has a great level of competition. People overlook how good our level is. If people took the time to watch, they would find it’s a really good product.”
THE LEAGUE
With two of their three losses coming against ARC leading and Top 25 team Nebraska Wesleyan, BVU has settled into third place in the ARC, after being picked to finish 8th in the preseason poll. They are a half game behind second place Coe, after a tough double overtime loss to Coe back on January 2nd.
“There is a lot of parody in the league, Loras is talented, Coe is really good on the defensive end of the floor, Wartburg is always a threat.” Johnson’s praise for conference opponents is understood with the depth that the ARC has had over the last few years. “It is a tough league from top to bottom. If you don’t come out ready to go, you are going to get beat. Teams are learning that the hard way this year. There is not a lot of room for error.”
OUTLOOK
Johnson has found himself a home as a BVU Beaver and we talked a little about his goals for the future of the program.
"We have to get out there and recruit. Taller, longer, and guys that can hit shots. And hopefully we are competing for ARC titles and see what we can do in the NCAA tournament down the road."
He alludes back to our talk about culture, "we are building the boat as we go."
“Im really lucky. I think we are doing good things here as a program.” - BVU Head Coach Trevor Johnson
-That D3 Guy
All photos courtesy of Coach Johnson and BVU Athletics
Comments