Portage’s Jaelyn Johnson has all but taken up residence in the gym.
So with his skill and size, the 6-foot-7 forward is enjoying the fruits of his labor in a breakout junior season.
“I’ve been putting in the work,” Johnson said. “Once you’re in the gym every day, you have to hold yourself to a standard. I’m putting in all this work, I have to do good and get better and help my team win games.”
Johnson already had a strong work ethic. He kicked it up a notch in the offseason. He developed his shot, refined his footwork, added strength and improved his rebounding technique.
“The people around me, I thought, ‘Man, I’m not putting in enough work. I have to put in more work to get to their level and push myself past their level,'” he said. “In the back of my mind, when I’m in the gym, I feel like even when I’m pushing myself to the max, I feel like I could go harder. Then when I’m not in the gym, I feel like I should be in the gym. I always have that feeling, if that makes sense.”
It makes perfect sense to Portage coach Bryon Clouse, whose team includes a trio of talented sophomores in Sam Wellman, Michael Wellman and Garrett Clark.
“Sam, Michael and Garrett are the hardest workers,” Clouse said. “He saw them in the gym all the time, and he really did — he latched on to those three. When those three were in the gym, they had a fourth guy now all of a sudden. Jaelyn was with them all the time, putting up shots, doing the weights.”
As a result, Johnson is averaging 13.7 points, which ranks second on the team, and a team-high 8.0 rebounds as Portage (6-1) has started strong. He averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds while playing sparingly last season.
“Pretty much from the end of last season until now, he’s done nothing but improve,” Clouse said. “He gained the weight, he gained the strength. Just basketball mean — he’s basketball nastier than what he was. He’s a soft-spoken, very good kid. We keep telling him, ‘Damn, man, just get in there and tear the rim off.’ He’s become a little more aggressive, a little more nasty on the court, which you need.
“And he has room to grow still. He can still be even more than he already is. All the work he did has been paying off. He’s able to get the rebounds. Being 6-7, we keep telling him, ‘You can get six points pretty easy on just three rebound putbacks. How easy is that? You can be averaging six just like that.’ Then you throw in his talent. He runs the floor really well. He’s had a couple of dunks he was excited about. He’s just a really good kid, and he’s put the work in. I’m really happy to see what he’s done.”
Still, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Johnson has exceeded expectations.
“He was kind of our wild card,” Clouse said. “We figured Garrett and Michael were going to be two nice scorers for us. We thought Jaelyn could be No. 3. So he’s definitely impressed us, and we’re happy with what he’s done. But we’re going to need him to continue to do that if we’re going to fight for conference championships, sectional championships and beyond. He’s going to have to continue to be this 14-point, eight-rebound a night kind of guy.
“Now the road gets tougher here as we move forward. There’s going to be some bigger and badder dudes he plays against coming up. We definitely want to see if he can keep this rolling through here.”
Indeed, the heart of the schedule, including play in the always competitive Duneland Athletic Conference, lies ahead for Portage, which saw standout Kamari Slaughter transfer to 2022 Class 4A state champion Indianapolis Cathedral. Johnson believes he’s up to the challenge.
“I’ve just been doing my job and doing everything the coaches ask me to do,” Johnson said. “I’m playing with confidence more. That was a really big setback for me last year. I wasn’t as confident as I am now. That really affects the way I play.
“I feel like I held myself accountable to be this good. I put in this much work, I should be held to a good role on the team.”