The Common Interest Management Gael Spotlight is a monthly feature story about Saint Mary's Athletics and a behind-the-scenes look at the Gaels.
 
MORAGA, Calif. — When the 2022-23 season began for Saint Mary's men's basketball, a lot of questions were at the forefront. Would Mitchell Saxen be able to fill the shoes of Matthias Tass at center? Would a young bench, led by three standout freshmen, be able to provide enough depth for an NCAA Tournament run? Would the offense be able to score enough points to win games? Seemingly just one constant remained: Logan Johnson.
 
After earning Second Team All-West Coast Conference honors as a senior, Johnson decided a few weeks after the season to use his extra year of eligibility and run it back with his teammates. One more crack at a WCC championship, and one more run at the NCAA Tournament.
 
To some, the decision might seem puzzling. Johnson had already been named All-WCC twice in his career. He's helped the Gaels take down top-ranked Gonzaga, lead the program to its first-ever unbeaten season inside University Credit Union Pavilion, and was a key cog in the Gaels sixth-ever NCAA Tournament win. So why come back?
 
"I think we left a lot on the table in terms of UCLA," explains Johnson. "That team was something that it took time to build but I think this was a new challenge, kind of being the head of the team. And really having to learn how I wanted to lead. I felt like it was another challenge to get over and another opportunity to really be able to be myself and push these young guys to learn patience."
 
Another word that Johnson used to explain his decision was family. Family is what Johnson stands for. It's in his blood, inked on his skin, and fills his heart.
 
His family values come from the relationship he has with his mother, Jennifer. Not only did she have the struggle of raising five children as a single mother, but she did so while serving the country as a member of the Air Force for 31 years. Jennifer spent time stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan while Logan and the others were growing up.  
There are many ways to describe the type of individual it takes to keep a family together while overseas, but Logan had a few that came to mind.
 
"Feisty. Strong. Passionate. There are so many different one-word phrases I could throw out there. Independent."
 
"It's a real blessing to have her as my mom. She did a tremendous job with all five of us," continued Johnson. "We've all gone on our own paths and have been successful, and that's a testament to her and the time she took to make sure we were in the right place at the right time with the right family.
 
One of those that has gone on blaze his own trail is his brother Tyler, who made a name for himself in the NBA. After going undrafted out of Fresno State, Johnson latched on with the Miami Heat, where he eventually signed a four-year, $50 million contract. His career spanned eight seasons and 351 games, where he averaged 8.9 points per game. 
 
So much of Logan's game is modeled after his brother, including his defensive mentality and his left-handed shooting stroke.
 
"I think we are very similar, but very different, in terms of basketball," Johnson explained. "He's somebody that gets in his stance and made it to the NBA because he can defend. I grew up having to guard him in the backyard, crying, putting up thirty on me. It's just a testament to how we were raised and the job my mom did. There was a lot of crying back in the day, getting beat up on the court. It made me tough."
 
Johnson says there is nobody who is a bigger fan than he is of his brother, who now plays in the NBL in Australia for Brisbane Bullets.
 
"I still get goosebumps. I'm probably all of his views on YouTube," he joked, with a laugh after. "I remember countless times in high school, my freshman year, when he got that call up. That was everything to me. That's why I stopped playing other sports. I give that dude his praise all the time for putting our family in this position to be successful in basketball, sports, and in life. He worked extremely hard for it, and I look up to him every day."  
It's paying off for Johnson in his fifth year, possibly more so than in any other season. Johnson and the Gaels are in the midst of a 10-game winning streak, and sit alone atop the West Coast Conference. No Gaels team has ever been ranked inside the top-10 in both KenPom and the NET Rankings, but this Gaels team has been there for weeks. To top it off, Johnson is the team's third-leading scorer, the team's best defender, and sits just 13 points away from 1,000 as a Gael.
 
The unfinished business and family ties helped keep Johnson here, but it was the relationships he's developed with others in Moraga, specifically head coach Randy Bennett, that helped get him here in the first place.
 
There's a special bond he feels with the 22-year veteran head coach stems all the way back from his decision to transfer from Saint Mary's. Johnson spent his freshman year playing for Mick Cronin at Cincinnati, but was prepared, if necessary, to quit basketball entirely.
 
"My grandpa got sick and he was living with us, and my little brother was becoming a teenager," Johnson said as he went back in time. "During those years, I think it's really important to have a male role model in the household. With all that going on, I would quit basketball. I would quit whatever I had to do to make sure my family is good."
 
The moment he stepped foot on campus, he felt like part of the Saint Mary's family. He felt like it wasn't just going to be himself that was taken care of by coach Bennett, but his entire family as well.
 
"When I came here, coach Bennett had my whole family out here on the visit, showing love and now my little brother ends up playing high school basketball with his kids, so we bond over that too," recalls Johnson. "Coming out here was easy, it was a no-brainer. A place where you got to get it out of the mud. That's been my whole life, nothing has been given, everything earned. Just goes into the chemistry we've built here at Saint Mary's.
 
Johnson also told SMC Athletics that there isn't another coach he would come back and play another year for.
 
"I feel like it's a bond that not many people have with their head coach," Johnson said. "He's such a family-first type of guy, and that's exactly what I am. Coming back to play for him [this year] was easy."
 
As the calendar turns to the final month of the regular season, more eyes are starting to pay attention to the success that the Gaels are having. With their newly-minted status as a top-20 team in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls, the Gaels are losing the ability to sneak up on people.  
National outlets are starting to list Saint Mary's as a team to watch the rest of the way. Local outlets are catching onto the success in Moraga, featuring the Gaels in print and online. That's building up expectations of a team in first place in the WCC, but those expectations have already been living with the Gaels all season long, according to Johnson. "I put all the pressure on us from game one. I said, 'you guys better get your popcorn ready.' I meant it."
 
"The sky's the limit for this team," he continued. "We have a bunch of young guys who have bought into the culture already, bought into their jobs, their roles in and out of the game. You got the older guys that are just doing what we are used to doing every day. The young guys are stepping up and doing their job. The coaching staff is behind us 100%. They spend countless hours to make sure that we have the game plan down, that we are fed correctly, that we are doing the right things."
 
To close it out, Johnson re-iterated four simple words: "The sky's the limit."
 
With a veteran like Johnson leading the way, there is zero doubt Saint Mary's can achieve that.