Hogs' Johnson takes his next step in rehab

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas sophomore guard Joe Johnson is getting a boot cast off his left leg today, six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated tendon in his ankle.
Johnson, who has been doing upper-body weightlifting and riding a stationary bicycle the last three weeks since the Razorbacks began preseason conditioning workouts, will begin walking on his leg today as the rehabilitation process continues.
Trainer Dave England said he anticipates Johnson will be ready for the start of practice on Oct. 13, but that it's too early to have an exact timetable.
"He's on schedule so far to be ready to practice a month from now, and that's our goal," England said. "But we'll just have to wait and see how it goes."
England said the first step for Johnson when he gets the boot cast off is to start taking a few steps and putting weight on the ankle again.
"First, he's got to walk," England said. "Then, if he can walk without limping, the next step is for him to do some jogging and a little jump-roping.
"The way it works is, you've got to walk before you can jog and jog before you can run and run before you can cut and cut before you can play."
Johnson, who led the Razorbacks in scoring (16 points per game) and rebounding (5.7) last season while earning SEC Newcomer of the Year honors, injured his ankle July 18 while practicing as a member of the USA Basketball World Championship for Young Men Qualifying Team in preparation for a tournament in Riberiao Preto, Brazil.
"Of course it was scary when he had the surgery, but everything seems to be moving along in a positive direction," Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "It looks like he's going to be ready for this season, and that's great news for our team.
"I think all of our kids will be ready to play, but Joe is the kind of kid that makes things a lot better for us."
All of Arkansas' other players are healthy and going through conditioning workouts, which include weightlifting sessions four days a week.
Among the Razorbacks' 13 scholarship players, there are 11 returning lettermen with the newcomers being junior guard Jannero Pargo, a transfer from Neosho (Kan.) Community College, and freshman forward Michael Jones from Little Rock Parkview.
"I'm impressed with how well our guys listened to us and did what we wanted during the off-season," Richardson said.
"Nobody came back out of shape, and the enthusiasm has been there."
Strength and conditioning coach Don Decker said the Razorbacks "have gotten stronger just through the natural maturation process" and are ahead of where they were at this time last year because of their experience in the program.
"This is the second or third time through it for most of them," Decker said. "They know what we want as a weight staff, and they know what Coach Richardson expects."

This article was published on Wednesday, September 13, 2000

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