David Johnson “ahead of schedule” in shoulder injury recovery

ACC media day — we don’t call it Operation Basketball here — is typically a day where a lot of words are spoken, but not a whole lot of substance is actually said. The most meaningful pieces of information to come out of the event are almost always the preseason media poll and preseason individual honors (which we’ll start to see later today).

One exception from the 2019 version of the event came when Chris Mack updated the status of injured Louisville freshman guard David Johnson on Tuesday.

“His rehab has gone flawlessly,” Mack said during ACC Operation Basketball. “He’s going to start doing basketball activities, not full contact, but basketball-type activities with the hopes of getting him back in six weeks.”

Mack said Johnson is “far ahead of schedule.” The original diagnosis would not have had him return until mid-to-late December.

“They gave us the timeline of four to eight months, and I think it is going to be closer to four,” Mack said. “He saw a doctor the other day, and the doctor said six weeks from today we think he can be back on the court playing for us.

“You can get the calendars out, check when that is. I’m not really quite sure. That’s really good news for our team. David has great size at his position. I think his IQ for the game is really terrific and will help us on both ends of the floor.”

Mack has previously said that in the initial weeks of summer practice, Johnson had looked like one of the freshmen best suited to play right away and help the Cards out at both the point guard and shooting guard position. The sooner he’s able to practice, the sooner he can get back to that status.

The 2019 7th Region Player of the Year, Johnson averaged 16.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and four assists as a senior last season while leading Trinity to its second Kentucky state championship. Johnson was the named the Most Valuable Player of the state tournament.