Well traveled as he is, Jamal Johnson has had to adapt to a role before.
After all, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior guard is now on his fourth college basketball program, having spent time at Memphis, Auburn and the University of Alabama at Birmingham before joining the Mocs in 2021. At each stop, he learned: at Memphis, just what college was going to be about; at Auburn, how to mentally prepare for games; at UAB, how to play for a "player's coach" in Andy Kennedy.
All of these traits have helped the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder find his way among a relatively mixed group of Mocs, who dropped a 75-74 heartbreaker in a Southern Conference battle with Samford on Saturday night. Johnson finished with 16 points, inching closer to 1,000 for his career; he now sits at 973.
Jake Stephens led the way for the Mocs (11-8, 3-3) with 19 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Dalvin White had 13 points and five assists, while Khristion Courseault scored 12. A.J. Caldwell's eight rebounds led UTC, which finished with a 40-35 advantage.
The Mocs held a one-point lead in the game's final seconds before a foul on White led to a pair of free throws by Bubba Parham, who started his career under current UTC coach Dan Earl at Virginia Military Institute.
UTC built a 19-point lead in the second half, but the Bulldogs (12-7) rallied to remain undefeated through six league games.
Johnson was back home Saturday in Birmingham, and the majority of his collegiate career was spent at Auburn, where he earned a degree in communication, but he has found a home in Chattanooga.
"Coming here, being on this team, I love this team and this coaching staff so much," Johnson said recently. "I feel like they believe in me and I'm believing in them. They believe in my ability, and they just keep confidence in me.
"This is a team atmosphere, a family atmosphere by working together, so I feel like I'm able to succeed because everybody's working together, working for each other. I've got a bigger role on the team as a leader and being able to help young guys. I'm one of the older guys on the team — actually, I'm the oldest — so I'm able to help lead and be able to have fun out there for my last year playing."
Johnson's shot is unorthodox at best. He has had success with it, connecting on 208 3-pointers at a 37% rate prior to Saturday, but that doesn't mean coaches haven't attempted to tweak his motion. Earl isn't among that group.
Earl's style of play — the Mocs entered Saturday attempting 31 3-pointers per game this season — was a perfect fit for Johnson, who has attempted nearly 80% of his career shots from behind the arc.
"Maybe if he was 14 or something, I would probably tweak it at that age," Earl said with a laugh. "At this point, you just leave him alone and tell him to shoot it when you're open. Just fire away and then get him in the gym and get his (shots) up. But we don't tweak guys' shots once they hit their sophomore year of college unless it's completely broken."
Johnson has picked up a lot of knowledge along the way, and he spends a lot of time mentoring his young teammates. After all, he was always learning.
"If I was talking to a younger me, I would tell me to just live in the moment," he said. "You have to go with the same mindset every day and not let what happened in the past affect your future. Practices, games, whatever it is, you have to have a straight, positive mindset every single day.
"I wish I could tell myself back then, I would be a whole different person, whatever, but I try not to look in the past. But if I could tell myself something, it would be to just go day by day with the same energy, same passion, same positivity every single day."
The Mocs will begin a three-game homestand when they host Furman (13-6, 4-2) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.