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Marvin Johnson didn’t miss often while playing basketball at the University of New Mexico in the late 1960s, earning the nickname, “Automatic.”
Although it took about four decades, the former Lobos’ sharpshooter was finally able to hit the mark on his longest of all shots. For about 35 years, Johnson has been saying to anyone who would listen that college basketball and football players should be paid by their schools.
Johnson was mostly ignored and often scorned, but under pressure from several anti-trust lawsuits, the NCAA recently reached an agreement with the five power conferences to allow colleges to pay players directly. Pay for play is on the way.
Admittedly, I was among those who said it would never happen. Isn’t a scholarship enough? Wouldn’t paying athletes open a can of worms? While I expect to get the “can of worms” part right because almost certainly this will be a mess, I couldn’t help but wonder how Johnson must feel all these years later now that his way of thinking has arrived in the mainstream.
So, it was time to unleash the bloodhounds and the finest detectives in the land to track down Johnson to get his take on the recent developments. After an extensive five-minute search, via Google, Johnson was on the other end of the phone and quickly agreed to visit with me about where we once were and where we are now headed.
“Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Johnson said when asked if he feels vindicated. “I spent a lot of my time” pushing the idea, which included hailing the concept during his own TV show on public access channel 27 in Albuquerque; however, it was a hard sell.
This seed was planted for Johnson during his two seasons playing for coach Norm Ellenberger at UNM from 1976-1978.
“I looked around,” Johnson said, seeing people selling T-shirts with his name on it. “Twenty dollars a T-shirt; people advertising my name. Shouldn’t I be getting some of that?”
No, was the answer. Besides, as the argument went, he was paid through an athletic scholarship.
“That’s a ruse,” Johnson fired back. “You were there to make them money. Your priority has to be that” and not academics, mentioning a class he took at UNM that required a lab. “I could not take that lab because practice was a priority. That tells you what was most important. I was just blown away once I looked at it in detail. I go, ‘man, it’s not right.’”
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One thing that definitely wasn’t right was the way Johnson says he was treated by those who disagreed.
Johnson was told, “I was a rebel. I was crazy. I was bitter.” Certainly, that reaction has long since ended, right? “To this day, I could not really go and get a job. People would come against me.”
Basketball is still what pays the bills for Johnson, who holds training sessions, operates the Albuquerque-based Southwest Basketball Camps and runs various leagues.
“Trying to get into a gym,” to host events would be a struggle. “Even to this day, people still hold that against me — not the average person but people in power.”
While the advent of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) has opened the door for college athletes to get outside money, Johnson says it is different than what his position has been all these years.
“I was talking about direct payments from the universities. NIL was just gravy. It wasn’t the main course. That’s the crumbs from the table they feed the athletes.”
Even with a sense of exoneration over the latest events, Johnson can still be controversial.
“No, no, no, no,” was his response when it was suggested college athletes in non-revenue sports should be a part of the settlement. “They should not be involved. Basketball revenue should be for basketball players. Football revenue should be for football — it’s a business. It should be separate.”
But aren’t those athletes working just as hard?
“People aren’t interested in all those minor sports,” which is where I interjected, ‘You’re going to stir things up again!’ His answer, “That’s capitalism, isn’t it?”
Johnson is watching with interest as the NCAA negotiates the terms of this new world order with the grand poohbahs in the SEC, Big 10 and other conferences.
“It’s going to get messed up. I know.” Why? “There is nobody at the table representing the players — there’s nobody there talking about what’s good for the players,” adding that athletes need to unionize.
After all, there is plenty of money out there. Just look at what many coaches are raking in annually at public institutions. Bill Self, of Kansas, in basketball and football’s Dabo Sweeney come in at more than $10 million a year.
Even as Marvin Johnson turns 68 years old this month, his battle continues. His conviction as strong as ever. Still the rebel. Still, at least to many, shooting straight.
Johnson says he is exploring the possibility of starting a Marvin Johnson Basketball Club in Belen and Los Lunas. To learn more, visit swbbcamp.net or call 505-710-7005.
