Rick Cleveland’s spring scattershooting: Avery Weed, Trey Johnson and Konnor Griffin

By Rick Cleveland | Originally published by Mississippi Today

Catching up on several fronts on this lovely spring Thursday…

As I type, I keep glancing at the TV screen watching the first round of the Masters at Augusta National. Mississippians should take note of what Mississippi State junior golfer Avery Weed accomplished last week on that same difficult golf course.

Weed, from Ocean Springs, finished tied for 11th in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, shooting a 54-hole total of 5 under par, including a final round 73 during which she birdied the difficult par 4 finishing hole. Weed currently ranks No. 19 in the world and No. 8 in the United States among women’s amateur golfers.

Just as impressive is her record during her junior season at State. Last fall, she was college golf’s top-ranked female player, finishing in the top five of every event she played and finishing the fall a combined 31 under par. She seems at her best on the best courses, shooting 7 under par over 54 holes at Pebble Beach when she finished second in the Carmel Cup, and 4-over in 54 holes at Colonial in Fort Worth, in addition to her Augusta National performance.

A prediction: When she finishes at State, you will read about Weed for years on the LPGA Tour.

Next up for the Tigers?

Every indication is that Trey Johnson, surely one of the greatest basketball players in Jackson State history, will soon become the Tigers’ new men’s basketball coach. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the announcement will come next week.

Good choice.

The 41-year-old Johnson remains the only JSU player to have won the Bailey Howell Trophy as Mississippi’s best college basketball player. That alone doesn’t make him the right guy to take control of the program, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. There are several reasons why Johnson seems the right choice.

Any JSU fan around in 2007 will remember Johnson from his playing days under Tevester Anderson. In his senior year, he averaged 27 points per game, second best in the nation, and was the SWAC Player of the Year. JSU fans will also remember that he was much more than a gunner who scored a lot because he shot a lot. He was a complete player, who also excelled as a passer. In the NCAA Tournament that year, against eventual national champion Florida, Johnson scored 25 points and passed out five assists. In a road win over UTEP that season, Johnson scored 49 points in a three-point JSU victory.

Johnson would take the place of Mo Williams, who left Jackson to take an assistant coaching job at Kentucky. Johnson was Williams’ top assistant both at Alabama State and then at JSU for the past four years. He knows well how difficult the JSU job is. Despite accumulating some of Mississippi’s top high school basketball talent, Williams was 57-75 over his four JSU seasons, always playing road games almost exclusively for the first two months of the season. Important to note: Williams was also 47-25, a winning percentage of 65.3 for his four seasons, which is how a JSU coach should be judged in today’s college basketball climate.

He’s a Jackson guy, a former Murrah High basketball and baseball standout and the son of long-time Jackson Publics Schools athletic director and Callaway principal Clinton Johnson Jr. Trey Johnson is actually Clinton Johnson III, which explains the nickname Trey. He knows the lay of the land in Jackson and in the SWAC .

I say that for two reasons: 1) You have to play those early season “money games” to help fund the athletic program, and 2) with NIL and the transfer portal, you are likely to lose any player who could help you win those money games. More to the point, if Trey Johnson ever gets a player as proficient as he was at Jackson State, he’d almost certainly lose him to a high-resource basketball program after his freshman or sophomore season.

Count former NBA great Purvis Short, the most accomplished player in Jackson State history, among those who believe Johnson will succeed at JSU. Says Short, who retired in 2024 after 31 years with the NBA Players Association (NBPA): “Trey is a terrific person and will be a great coach for JSU. Back in 2019, during our HBCU/NBPA Top 50 Camp, Trey was one of our coaches. I have always been a fan and have watched his work. He has the experience, work ethic, and characteristics to be a very good coach. Sorry to see Mo leave, but  I think Trey will do a wonderful job.”

Show me the money

Jackson baseball phenom Konnor Griffin turns 20 on April 24. He is set for life, having signed a nine-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates that will pay him $140 million, minimum, and possibly more with incentive clauses. He was 17 when I interviewed him for the first time 26 months ago. He seemed 17 going on 27, mature far beyond his years. If anyone can handle fame and fortune at such a tender age, Griffin is that guy.

You, as I, might wonder how that $140 million breaks down. According to several published reports here it is: First off, he will get a $12 million signing bonus ($5 million up front and $3.5 million in 2027 and ’28). His annual salaries: $1 million in 2026, $2 million in 2027 and $4 million in 2028. He’ll make $6 million in 2029, $12.5 million in 2030 and $21 million in 2031, $26.5 million in 2032 and $27 million in each of the final two years of the deal. There are no deferrals, opt-out clauses or options.

Sounds like a lot, and it is. But if Griffin becomes the superstar many, including this writer, expect him to be, the Pirates are getting a deal.

This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Source: Original Article