By: Andrew Clausen
During the summer, various Kennesaw State women's basketball student-athletes will answer questions about their favorite memories, hobbies, interests and more in the Owls' "Get to Know" series. Now up, Amani Johnson!
What is your favorite food?
PIZZA. I LOVE PIZZA.
How did you first get involved in athletics?
My mom and dad played sports when they were younger, so we always had a ball laying around the house or in the yard to play with. My first basketball memory is going to the YMCA with my dad and doing dribbling drills and stuff. I couldn't even shoot yet. The first team I remember playing on was soccer though.
What attracted you about coming to Kennesaw State?
There were a lot of things. I loved the coaches for one, and their vision to change women's basketball here at KSU. It reminded me of my high school and I am excited to be a part of that. I liked that the campus was pretty suburban with things to do around and downtown Atlanta being so close. The dorms are awesome and so is the cafeteria so those were also very attractive and a nice bonus.
What's your favorite thing about Kennesaw State women's basketball?
My favorite thing is the family atmosphere. They told me they were like a family and I even went to a team dinner at Coach B's house on my visit, but being here, you can really see it. We're not a fake family either; we laugh, we are honest, we tease each other, and most importantly, we include everyone in it. From our trainers, to the athletic director, to other staff members at KSU, everyone is a part of our family.
What do you enjoy most about athletics and sports?
Well I played five sports in high school: soccer, volleyball, basketball, softball, and track. So, I obviously love sports. I love working hard and seeing yourself get better. Above all else though, I love competing. Everything to me is a competition for the most part. The thing that I love about basketball is how fast paced it is all the time. There's not always time to think, you just have to react and kind of feel the game and hope your training is good enough to rely on.
What is your favorite "cheat" food?
Ice cream. I eat ice cream every night at home. I haven't eaten it as much here, but I get it from the commons a few times a week probably and now we have some in the freezer here too.
How has athletics and sports benefited your life off the court?
Athletics benefits my life off the court in SOOO many ways. The biggest one is giving me a free college education. I've gotten to travel so many places for AAU and cup soccer. I've made so many friends, met a lot of coaches and people that I can hopefully use for networking down the road. I've gotten to do so many cool things, it keeps me healthy and in shape, and it's just really beneficial to life.
What is your favorite non-basketball sport?
Soccer. I was pretty good at soccer and could've played that in college too.
What's your favorite professional basketball player?
Lebron James is the best. Gotta love him. I really like Steph Curry though too which is kind of funny. I don't have a favorite to be honest, I just like seeing good basketball. On the Women's side, I love Skylar Diggins-Smith.
What are you looking forward to most this season?
I'm looking forward to getting to conference play. I think we're going to be good and I'm super excited to see all our hard work pay off. Conference play, specifically, because we have to do well in conference and win the conference championship to make the postseason. Also, I'm super excited for Cancun because I've never been out of the country and I'm obsessed with Spanish so that's going to be so cool for me.
