UIC Athletics will hold its 2017 Hall of Fame Banquet and Reunion on Saturday, Jan. 28. This year's class features representatives from five different sports, one former coach and long-time administrator, and the first men's basketball team to earn an NCAA Tournament berth.
 
Leading up to the celebration, UICFlames.com will be profiling each of the 2017 inductees, which include Tricia Charbonneau (Softball), Tom Cisar (Men's Golf), Jay DeMerit (Men's Soccer), Erin Garrett-Guevara (Women's Swimming), Justin Johnson (Baseball), Denny Wills (Coach/Administrator) and the 1997-98 men's basketball team.
 
Justin Johnson (Baseball, 2004-2006)
By: John Healy
 
Although he was all the way from Chaska, Minn., UIC was the first university Justin Johnson visited, looking to transfer from his junior college. "The coaches and the other guys I met with just felt right," Johnson said, remembering those first meetings. "I didn't even hesitate."
 
Johnson excelled his debut year at UIC. He left that 2004 season with a .357 batting average, .546 slugging percentage, and topped the league, only tying with his teammate Mike Hughes, with an impressive 61 RBI. He even led in one of the more painful categories, hit by pitches, getting struck 16 times. That year, he would be selected for the All-Horizon League First Team. Unfortunately, the talented athlete would have to wait in the dugout the next season after getting hurt.
 
Tommy John surgery was needed and Johnson had to sit out the 2005 season. "I threw one hard and felt a big pop in my arm." Johnson said, recalling the incident early in 2004 when he got hurt. Despite the injury, he would go on and finish the rest of that '04 season before having surgery in that offseason. In interim, Johnson had a lot of time to recuperate and he didn't waste it.
 
"I have to give credit to the whole training staff at UIC," Johnson eagerly said, going on to praise the medical staff. "I can't say enough about how they treated me. It was top-notch. That's just the kind of people they are, they care about everyone the way they cared about me."
 
In 2006, Johnson came back strong and once again dominated the league. He would hit .395, slam 11 home runs, ring up 57 RBI, and terrify opposing pitchers with a league-leading .703 slugging percentage. "I wasn't really worried about the hitting," Johnson stated. "Once I got the surgery, I wasn't too worried hitting was going to hurt anymore, but I was worried about day-to-day throwing." That '06 season, he would once again join the All-Horizon League First Team and also be welcomed to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Mideast Regional First Team.
 
After that amazing season, Johnson was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and played Minor League Baseball until 2008. Playing professional baseball, while an exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, is a very different endeavor compared to high school or college baseball. "I don't want to burst bubbles or anything," Johnson said of his professional experience. "It's a different type of game. It is such a team game in college, everyone is going towards the same thing, but in pro-ball, it is more play-for-survival."
 
Even though Johnson is no longer playing baseball, he still carries the everyday lessons he learned from the game, from working hard to time and personnel management. "There's so many different lessons that baseball applies to life," Johnson stresses. "That's what's great about UIC. The coaching staff is there to win, but there's also life lessons." Never wanting to remain stuck in an office all day and gagged by a suit and tie, Johnson is currently using those life lessons to build houses back in his native Minnesota.