Calvin Johnson

High school sports in our region can often feel like a microcosm for the area itself, and the 1972 Class A Boys Basketball Championship offers a perfect example. That year, under the dazzling “what-ifs” of Illinois’ March Madness, the Meridian High Bobcats, led by the steadfast and tactically astute Coach Jim Byassee, found themselves on a path of relentless determination. The Bobcats, with a stellar 30-2 record, faced Lawrenceville in a title game that tested more than just their skills—it challenged their spirit.

Calvin Johnson, a key figure in this saga, emerged as a stalwart defender whose performance during the tournament was both pivotal and poetic. Notably, his efforts were crucial in a semifinal clash where he helped secure a significant victory, setting the stage for the final confrontation with Lawrenceville. The final game was a tight contest, ending with Meridian narrowly missing the top spot with a score of 57 to Lawrenceville’s 63. The game, while exhibiting competition and grit at its most public heights, was also a lesson of humility and grace under pressure, something each of the players that year experienced very personally.

Reflecting on these moments in 2024, mere weeks after the Bobcats, once again, made it to the Title Game in the State Tournament, Calvin Johnson speaks of the deep trust and bonds formed on the basketball court that made the 1972 contest possible. “You build trust, you establish it on that court,” he says. These connections were not just between the players but mirrored in the relationships with Coach Byassee. “I liked playing for Byassee. He taught me a lot,” Calvin remembers. “He realized us kids needed to know more than what we’d seen.” He explains that when you provide a student with additional experiences, you open that student up to take appropriate risks. Interestingly, another Meridian legend, Coach David Davis, knows this as well, and was this year’s mirror of trust for the Bobcats on the court.

Calvin’s down-to-earth manner and knack for getting along with folks only strengthened the championship-level ties of the 1972 team, and the same is true for those who know him today. “I’ve always been easy to get along with,” he says, a sentiment echoed by everyone from teammates to mentors, who found him as approachable off the court as he was fierce on it. His tale stretches beyond mere athletic feats; it’s a familiar background song to the transformative power of sport—a tool for staking community recognition and personal value. The bonds he formed through basketball reflected the deep-seated values his educators aimed to instill: tolerance, hard work, cooperation, and compassion.

This culminating clash in the 1970s against Lawrenceville was not just about points scored but about the indelible marks left on each player’s life by the journey they undertook together and what that means to them as men today, decades removed from those courtside huddles. In those high-stakes moments, Calvin’s philosophy that “we all wanted to win, couldn’t do it without each other,” was proven by action. You can find this attitude off the court, where victory is often found in the unity and shared commitment of a team doing what a team does best, challenging each other to a better place through trust and cooperation.

“The first year I went to Meridian to try out for the basketball team, I thought, this is going to be a good year,” Calvin recalls fondly. Though he couldn’t have known that for certain in 1971, it does make one wonder what the power of positive visualization might accomplish if we dare speak to ourselves out loud in a similar way. Calvin certainly did, and he found his spirit challenged and then satisfied. In that truth, we find a common thread work between the Bobcats of 1972 and the Bobcats of 2024. 52 years apart, but bound by the same trust, cooperation, and dedication to something larger than oneself. That’s the Calvin Johnson Story. That’s the Meridian story.