BOULDER — On the set of Space Jam 2, a young Isaiah Johnson soaked in the approach of an NBA icon.
Colorado’s freshman guard, then 12 years old, was working out with LeBron James at Warner Bros. Studios in 2019. Johnson’s dad, Chris Johnson, is a renowned trainer whose clientele features a slew of accomplished pros, including James.
That day, Isaiah rebounded for King James as the future Hall of Famer concluded his workout with full-court sprints, capped by 10 dunks at each end of the floor.
“He had already worked out for an hour-and-a-half, and then did those sprinting dunks with (the highest intensity),” Johnson recalled. “Obviously, LeBron is one-of-one, but that just made me realize, that dude never stops. He was always putting in extra training.
“… It’s definitely a blessing being raised in the gym with all the pros like that. I’ve gained so much knowledge about the game from being with them. They taught me everything. They’ve taught me how to work for what you want out of the game. They watch my games, they give me feedback. I’m just really blessed to have grown up in that environment, and it’s helped make me the player I am today.”
Because Johnson’s eyes were open wide long before he got to CU, it’s no wonder his heartbeat has been slow, and his play dynamic, in the opening scene of his college career.
Through the undefeated Buffs’ first eight games, the freshman has been a force as the team’s sixth man. Johnson leads CU with 15.1 points per game, while shooting 82.5% from the stripe, 54.5% from 3-point land, and demonstrating LeBron-like finishing ability at the rim.
“He’s doing a lot of things that are not really freshman-like,” CU starting point guard Barrington Hargress observed. “Just look at our last game (against California Baptist), and the second-half run that he kind of sparked. It takes a veteran’s presence to understand what we needed, and he came out there and gave it to us immediately.”
In that 78-70 win at the CU Event Center on Monday, Johnson scored 17 points. It was his fourth game with at least 17 points in the infancy of his Buffs career.
It’s very early, but he’s making it appear as if CU head coach Tad Boyle got a steal on the three-star prospect who was under-recruited coming out of Campbell Hall High School in Los Angeles.
Johnson wasn’t even the most heralded of the quintet of players that comprised CU’s signing class a year ago. The majority of Johnson’s other offers out of Campbell Hall were mid-majors, as Boyle believes Power 4 coaches were scared off by the smaller stature of the 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard.
That was despite Johnson averaging 34.5 points per game as a senior, including 12 games over 40 points, and being a centerpiece on an AAU team that won the Pro 16 Puma Circuit National Championship the summer prior. A primary factor in Johnson’s decision to choose CU was Boyle’s longevity in Boulder.
“A lot of people recruit based on metrics, but there’s a lot of metrics he has that can’t be measured,” Boyle said. “One of them is his heart, and the other one’s his toughness. He’s not afraid of anybody or anything.
“He’s got to get stronger physically, and that’s going to help him defensively, because right now teams are going at him. Off the bounce, they’re trying to punk him. … He’s holding his own, and (his strength) will get better. Just like when we recruited (Buff-turned-NBA player) Spencer Dinwiddie — I knew he would get bigger and stronger.”
For now, Johnson is used to being the undersized baller on the court.
Starting around 10 years old, he would regularly play in pick-up games organized by his dad in the Los Angeles area that featured professionals. In one of those runs as a young teen, Johnson hit four 3s in a row.
“I was just really happy because all the guys were going (nuts for me),” Johnson said. “That was a really cool moment to be on the court and do that against guys of that caliber, because it showed me what I was capable of.”
It’s those types of moments that Johnson’s dad has been witnessing for years as his son has accumulated what Chris describes as “compound interest” with a work ethic modeled after Chris’ NBA clients. For the last decade, the 18 year old has woken up at 4 a.m. to make 1,000 shots before school, and then would make approximately another 500 shots in the evening, post-practice.
“Isaiah has been playing one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, five-on-five against NBA players since he was in the ninth grade,” Chris Johnson said. “He completely dominated in a lot of our runs this summer, but you want me to tell you what we didn’t do? We didn’t put out film of him dominating an NBA player because we don’t need the hype that other people want.
“Now, once he gets to the NBA, I’m gonna pull out all of that film.”
For a program coming off a 14-21 record in 2024-25 that was the worst of Boyle’s 15-year tenure, the emergence of Johnson is a key component in what the Buffs need to right the ship in Boyle’s 16th season.
CU used 18 different starting lineups last season, but has used just one this season heading into Saturday afternoon’s rivalry game in Fort Collins against Colorado State. And the Buffs have displayed some mettle en route to their first 8-0 mark in 76 years, including rallying to top Eastern Washington in OT on Nov. 8, holding off Washington to win the Acrisure Holiday Classic title on Nov. 28 and using a dominant second-half stretch to beat previously undefeated California Baptist earlier this week.
Johnson was pivotal in all of those wins, impressing Boyle with his poise in the clutch.
“The fact that he comes off the bench (is moot),” Boyle said. “The games we’ve played that are tight down the stretch, he’s usually in there at the end. Starting five is so overrated; finishing five is not, and he’s in the finishing five. … A lot of freshmen are a little unsure of themselves. He’s not unsure of himself.”
While Johnson’s surge over the first month of the season has also drawn the attention of his dad’s current and former clients — earlier this week, Hall of Famer Dwayne Wade sent the freshman an encouraging message, and challenged him to “learn how to be a great teammate” amid his success — Boyle is intent on making sure CU continues to improve in non-conference play.
The Buffs started 9-2 last season, but then went 3-17 in conference play en route to finishing last in the Big 12. That included 13 consecutive losses. CU’s Big 12 opener this season is Jan. 3 against Arizona State in Tempe.
“It’s my job, especially when we’re 8-0 and they’re feeling good about themselves, to actually coach them harder and bring them back down to earth,” Boyle said. “We have to be sure we’re not getting drunk on our own wine, because we need more consistency.”