“Basketball, in general, has changed my life,” said Jalen Johnson, sophomore Billiken basketball star.

Johnson came in as the “Baton Rouge Bomber” but the voice of SLU basketball, Bob Ramsey, decided to change it up, and thus the “Bayou Billiken” was born.

In his second year as a Billiken, Johnson made a big impact on the team with his hard work and 3-point shots. “I ended up at SLU as a late signing,” said Johnson. “Coach Ford saw me late. When he first got the job he recruited me here and I thought it was a great opportunity, so I took it.”

Since then, he has worked hard to continuously up his game. From the court to the classroom, Johnson stays on top of his obligations as a student athlete.

“You have to exert your body to the fullest, you have to do your homework, [and] make the tests,” said Johnson. “But I love it, because it keeps me on point.”

The 6’7” forward from Baton Rouge, Louisiana has been playing basketball since he was a child and eventually found a deep love for the game in middle school. Johnson said that period in his life is when he began to work hard in his off time. He would go to the gym and shoot with his dad to improve his game.

The hard work he put in in middle school payed off when Johnson and his high school team won three state championships. That hard work and determination eventually led Johnson to SLU, more than 600 miles away from home.

“My family is my A1 since day one,” said Johnson. “Even though they’re not here, they’re here.” Living far away from home has helped Johnson to grow as an individual, seeing that he cannot rely on his family’s physical presence, and instead allows his family to support him from a distance. Johnson said his mom offers him strong emotional support and his dad gives him support to keep motivated.

His family keeps him going even when times get tough. And for someone who is always traveling for games, things can get very difficult.

Johnson said, “every day is important in college, so missing days is really tough…you’ll be sitting on a bus or an airplane and you’ll be tired because you just played, and it’s 11 o’clock at night, and you know you’ve got homework. It’s really tough for the mind.”

But Johnson fights through those tough nights in hopes that he can live out his dream and play in the NBA. Meanwhile he is studying to get a degree in communication, so that he can go into broadcast journalism after his basketball career. Johnson found the joy of basketball commentary and analysis while attending his little brother’s games. He would sit next to his parents and do commentary while cracking jokes.

From his first year at SLU, through this year, and to the next Johnson has seen his skill as a player and a leader develop. He said that “most people only see the performance.” When fans fill the Chaifetz Arena, there is a lot that happened before that 7 o’clock tip off that makes a game so fun to watch, and for Johnson, his team gets him through it.

The Billikens continued their road trip with a Feb. 10 game against Rhode Island. The second consecutive road game brought the Bills a win before their return home. The game saw three Billikens finish in double digits with senior forward Maddy Gits scoring in the double digits for her seventh consecutive game.

The first quarter had SLU chasing Rhode Island early on until the Bills were able to break through and take the lead after a three from junior guard Jordyn Frantz. Up 8-9, Rhode Island struck back with a three, retaking the lead. The first quarter ended with the Bills trailing 19-15.

Rhode Island took their biggest lead of the game in the second quarter at 22-15, but the Bills were able to strike back and take the lead at the end of the half, bringing the halftime score to 31-29. The Bills put in a big third quarter performance and ended the third with a nine-point lead at 49-40. SLU found their groove in the fourth quarter to come out with the win and a final score of 69-66.

The Billikens returned home to Chaifetz Arena for a Valentine’s Day game against Duquesne. Junior center Tara Dusharm saw her career high points scored with 16 contributing to the 38 points off the bench. The Bills ultimately fell to their A-10 foe 76-66. Unable to regain the early lead set in the first quarter, the Bills trailed behind Duquesne for the rest of the game.

The Bills took to Chaifetz again Saturday, Feb. 17. The mid-Saturday game pit the Billikens up against George Washington. The first quarter saw the Bills down early on, but a 13-2 run put them in the lead at 15-8 with just 39 seconds in the quarter. The first quarter ended with the Bills holding off George Washington 15-10.

George Washington saw a big bounce back in the second quarter, kicking it off with a 13-point run, overtaking the Billiken lead at 23-15. George Washington continued to push on, resulting in a halftime score of 32-23 with the Bills trailing. SLU continued to fall in the third quarter as George Washington went up 40-27, but the Bills struck back and reduced the lead to just six points at 46-40 for the end of the third quarter. George Washington managed to sink 11 of 12 free throws in the final quarter, cementing them the win over SLU with a final score of 71-58.

The defeat was a hard pill to swallow for the Bills,

“it’s tough,” said Head Coach Lisa Stone. “We’re playing for home court in the A-10 tournament, and it’s disappointing to lose at home to protect home court.”

The Bills stepped back into action after their flight to Richmond, taking on VCU in their penultimate game before the start of the A-10 tournament. The first quarter got off to a slow start with VCU taking an early lead, but the Bills kept the fight going and ended the quarter trailing at 20-19. VCU was able to push a lead and entered the halftime break with a six-point lead at 35-29.

The second half broke out and after some technical difficulties with the shot clock were fixed, the game was back underway. The third quarter saw VCU take an 11-point lead with 5 minutes in the quarter at 34-43. But the Bills kept at it, staying within 10 points to finish out the quarter, trailing 45-51.

Down 60-70 with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Bills struck at VCU. A 10-point run, spearheaded by senior guard Jackie Kemph, who scored nine of the points, brought the game into overtime.

The Bills fell in overtime in a close cat-and-mouse chase where VCU picked up the early lead and the Bills were left trailing. The game finished with a VCU win 84-88.

The Billikens are back in action Saturday, Feb. 24, at Chaifetz Arena with a 2 p.m. start on Senior Day, as they take on Dayton.

Early on Tuesday, Feb. 13, the Office of the President sent out an email formalizing the end of the Title IX investigation that began after three women reported a sexual assault on Sept. 24 2017. As reported in local media, freshman guard Jordan Goodwin has been suspended for two months on the grounds of “violating school policy.” In a statement issued by Goodwin he stated, “I am sad to leave my team, but I look forward to returning to Team Blue in May.” Goodwin is expected to be the only player that will remain at SLU after the investigation.

As of Tuesday morning, Goodwin was preparing to move back home to Bellville, Ill. Out of the three other players who haven’t played all season, Ty Graves has withdrawn from SLU to continue his education elsewhere. Redshirt junior guard Adonys Henriquez and redshirt sophomore guard Jermaine Bishop have both been out of practice for the past two weeks. Henriquez recently signed with an agent to pursue other opportunities.

According to the University, none of the four suspended athletes are enrolled at SLU.

Head coach Travis Ford commented on the investigation in a press conference at Chaifetz Arena on Tuesday afternoon.

“Continue to support us…we are trying to make this program the best program and improve it from…where I took over…from where it was…[we’re] trying to get back to the top 10 and make it a program that everybody can be very proud of in this city.”

SLU Men’s Tennis kicked off their season Friday, Jan. 26 against Northern Illinois University. The Billikens had a rough time in Illinois, falling 7-0. Some hard-fought matches came from the road trip with senior Juan Calero narrowly falling to NIU’s Georg Lundkvist 7-6, 5-7, 10-2. The men continued their road kick the next day to face off against Omaha. SLU dropped 0-2 for the season after a close 4-3 loss. The Billikens set out on the road again last weekend, playing Saturday, Feb. 3. The Bills played against Arkansas and lost 6-1, making their overall record 0-3. Sophomore Justin Nogalski defeated Josh Bortnick 7-5, 7-5. The Billikens will play their home opener on Friday, Feb. 9 against Eastern Illinois at 1 p.m.

SLU Women’s Tennis continued non-conference play against Purdue University on Friday, Jan. 26. The Billikens lost in Indiana 7-0 with Ally and Cassie McKenzie putting in good performances, but losing 7-5, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-4 respectively. The Bills came home for their first home match against Eastern Illinois. SLU lost 5-2 with the two individual wins coming from Mariluz Rojo against Grace Summers 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 and Alba Salinas against Karla Contreras 6-2, 6-4. SLU moves their overall record to 0-4. SLU Women’s Tennis returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 8 as they travel to take on Murray State.   

The St. Louis University Men’s Soccer team continued Atlantic-10 play with a Saturday night home game against Davidson on Oct. 21. The match played a full 90 minutes without either team able to break the 0-0 stalemate. Both teams made plenty of scoring opportunities, but ultimately, it was Davidson who broke the draw. A goal in the 96th minute wrapped the game up for a Davidson 1-0 win.

The Billikens postponed A-10 play on Tuesday, Oct. 24, when they traveled to Oklahoma to play against Tulsa. The first half of the match played out scoreless at 0-0. The second half played out much of the same way, and with overtime looming, Tulsa put in a goal going up 1-0 in the 80th minute. The Bills struck back when sophomore midfielder Saadiq Mohammed, drove one in with his head off a service from sophomore forward Leo Novaes. The game went into overtime for all of five minutes until the golden goal was scored. Junior forward Anthony Brown drove a shot into the back of the net from 15 yards out, netting the Bills the win.

Off the thrilling overtime victory, the Bills jumped back into conference play against Jesuit rival, Fordham. The game played to a 0-0 draw at the half, but after rallying for the second half, the Billikens opened the scoring with a goal from senior defender Patrick Sarr. The Bills went up 2-0 after a Fordham own goal. Fordham halved the lead in the dying minutes of the game but were unable to overcome the deficit. The game ended at 2-1, giving the Bills their second two-win streak since exhibition play in August.

The Billikens returned home for senior night in their final regular season game against St. Joseph’s on Nov. 1. The Bills needed everything to play out perfectly around the conference to clinch a championship spot. The stars aligned and the Bills just had to do their part. Scoring broke out in the 38th minute when Sarr headed one in, netting him his third goal of the season and a special senior night. The bills doubled the lead with a goal from Mohammed. The game ended in a 2-0 SLU win.

Heading into A-10 championship play, Head Coach Mike McGinty says, “It’s really about getting our guys back physically and getting them mentally ready for the next challenge.”  The Bills play University of Massachusetts, away, in the A-10 championship quarterfinal on Sunday at noon.