June 14, 2007 • Colorado Springs, Colorado

Unlike most USA Basketball Women's Youth Development Festival participants, Colorado Springs is not new to Tennessee forward Glory Johnson.

Johnson lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., until she was 7 years old. A number of years have passed and since then Johnson has received a number of honors. She returns to her birthplace as the 2007 Gatorade Tennessee Player of the Year, a 2007 EA Sports All-America second team and Parade Magazine third team selection. Johnson also boasts a number of Most Valuable Player awards, including one from the 2007 state tournament.

After a morning session featuring informative and inspiritional speeches from USA Basketball's Carol Callan and 1996 Olympian Katy Steding and practice, Johnson caught up with usabasketball.com to talk about what's in a name and about jumping on the Colorado Springs courts.

	Photo Credit: Steven Maikoski/USA Basketball

You're from Colorado Springs, so is at all like you remember it being when you were little?
Well, since I haven't lived here since I was 7 years old, it's sort of weird looking back at the different streets and the different buildings that I haven't seen since I was little. I remember what street I lived on, and it's sort of cool to look at streets like Pike's Peak and to think that I used to run around on these streets when I was little.

Do you have a lot of family and friends who are still here?
I remember that I used to have a couple of friends when I was 7, but I haven't kept in touch with them. I don't really have any family here either.

How was the move to the Southeast region of the country?
It was different. It was a real small community, but it was for my dad's job. We fit in.

I guess you were only 7, but can you remember the differences between playing basketball here and there?
When I was down here, I wasn't really a basketball player. I played soccer until I was probably nine. Then I played basketball and soccer, then I let soccer go.

Why did you decide to focus on basketball?
I just kind of liked it better. Some people have a feeling for certain sports and certain things. I guess basketball was my calling.

How did you get your name by the way?
My mom named me. She just chose a lot of names out of the Bible. My sisters' names are Grace; Dorothy, Judy and Isaac, those are all from the Bible.

What does that mean to carry that name?
I look at it as, Glory stands for a lot, but it's nice to hear people say my name too. People sing my name sometimes. It's sort of funny. I like my name a lot. It makes good headlines.

Can you talk about receiving the invitation to come here?
When I first heard about it, I was really surprised. I'd heard about different USA teams and different Olympic teams. I thought it was for older kids, people who are leaving college trying to make the Olympics. When I saw it said "USA" on it, I was like, ‘I have to go to this.' I sort of decided that I was going before I even told my mom.

What about putting on the Red, White and Blue?
I'm glad that I'm able to represent our country in some way. Playing basketball is something that I love to do.

Being 7 years old, you probably weren't familiar with USA Basketball were you?
No, not at all. I didn't even know about this whole area over here.

What did you take from the talk this morning?
Talking about role playing and representing the U.S. and how normally, we're all starters and stars of our basketball team in high school and AAU. Coming here and sitting on the bench for the first five minutes and playing the last five minutes really gives you a feel of a reserve's position and how she benefits and contributes to the team.

How about your first blue team practice?
I thought we worked really good. We were more separated yesterday. We had half of the team on both sides. Working together today and rooming with each other has helped us. We talk a lot, and if we don't understand something, we ask each other. We're getting a lot better.