LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson said he thought he knew what giving and sharing were until he spent 10 days in Africa.Working with Training to Reduce the Incidence of AIDS-Related Death Trust, Johnson spent June 4 to 14 teaching aspiring coaches and kids the game of basketball in the Nkomazi region of South Africa.The program uses sports as a way to teach children the importance of HIV and AIDS education.Johnson, who stayed in a hand-built hut during his time in Africa, has spent years coaching basketball, but never in a situation quite so unique.”I’ve never been a part of something like this,” Johnson said.Africa has been buzzing with excitement about the 2010 FIFA World Cup, leaving little focus on basketball. The children in Johnson’s clinic didn’t have much prior experience with the sport.”It was like starting from scratch,” he said.Establishing basketball in an area full of soccer fans wasn’t something Johnson said he viewed as a challenge.”I think basketball can take off anywhere,” Johnson said.Some of the World Cup games coincided with the times of Johnson’s clinics, but soccer played a distant second in Johnson’s mind. He instead spent his days teaching on and off the court.Johnson taught a group of 15 aspiring coaches in a classroom setting every day from 8 a.m. to noon. The conditions barely qualified it to be called a classroom, he said.In the afternoons, Johnson and the coaches loaded up in a pickup truck and drove to an outdoor court to teach kids basketball.The coaches set up stations on the courts devoted to passing, dribbling, defense, rebounding, shooting and footwork.Johnson said he gained a new perspective from watching kids with no shoes toil away at their basketball skills in the hot sun. The children had little in the way of possessions and lived in an area ripe with HIV and lack of proper nutrition.”Their living conditions … you couldn’t even imagine,” Johnson said. But the joy and energy the children had for basketball affected Johnson. In this day and age, coaches have a tendency to want to nurture their athletes, he said.If a 5 or 6-year-old kid can play in the heat for days and not complain, his athletes should be able to do the same, he added.”If you think you’re tired, you’re not tired,” he said.Johnson said he plans to continue to work with TRIAD Trust and the children he coached. He plans to stay in constant contact with some of the people and kids he met, and he hopes they might come visit one day.”I’m in it for the long haul,” Johnson said.Johnson emphasized that his trip wasn’t a big deal for him, but a way to try to do his part to help out. He said he was a little surprised by the attention he received in Africa and at home.Someone told Johnson he must be “famous and rich” back home. “I’m rich off faith, family and friends,” Johnson responded.Johnson said it was hard to say goodbye to the 150 children he met in Africa, but he is already looking forward to being able to work with his team.Because of NCAA rules, the basketball team can’t have organized workouts until the second day of the fall semester, but Johnson had a meeting with them Tuesday.He showed the team a video of the kids and emphasized the importance of bettering one’s self right now.”The most important time of the year to get better is now,” Johnson said.Johnson showed the team a video of the kids in Africa and talked about working hard both academically and in athletics.”There’s an edge to them,” Johnson said. He likened the team to “hungry sponges,” eager to soak everything in.There may not be any organized workouts until August, but Johnson’s expectations for his team haven’t changed.”They’re allowed to structure themselves,” Johnson said. “The good ones will work on the things they’re supposed to work on.”- – – -Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]