Former NBA star speaks to Rotary Club

Buck Johnson was the featured speaker at the Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club on Jan. 22. Johnson grew up in east Birmingham and played basketball at Hayes High School for his hero, Jack Doss. Coach Doss, he said, gave him the confidence he needed to succeed.

Johnson was a McDonald’s All-American and is now a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. After high school, he played for Wimp Sanderson at the University of Alabama and then went on to play for the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the then-Washington Bullets. Johnson also spent eight years in Europe playing for Turkey, Israel and Greece.

Johnson retired in 2002 and returned to Huntsville, the area where Doss was coaching and spent time coaching with him. In 2014, Johnson returned to Birmingham to work with the athletic department of Birmingham City Schools. He is currently in the Athletic Development Office and is the boys varsity basketball coach for Restoration Academy.

His son Jamal is currently on a basketball scholarship at Auburn University.

Submitted by Diane Poole, Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club.