Terry Johnson isn't a selfish basketball player. But there are times that Cal State Stanislaus coach Keith Larsen wishes Johnson, the former Reno High player, had some selfishness that would make him want to score more often than he has for the Warriors.

Johnson and the Warriors will face Nevada at Lawlor Events Center at 3:05 p.m. today.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Johnson, who has played power forward and center for the undersized Warriors, has played in six games with three starts, averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds. Johnson, the son of former Nevada and current Stanford coach Trent Johnson, will start at power forward today. The junior missed two games after having a large cyst removed from his back, but has been back since early December.

"We have to have him. When he's not around, we don't have many big guys," said Larsen, a former assistant at Stanford with Trent Johnson on Mike Montgomery's coaching staff. "I don't think he considers himself a big guy, but he is for our team. My problem is trying to find him a place to score. He doesn't see himself as a scorer.

"In our system, you have to score. He's an OK outside shooter. He has an OK post game. He's a hustle guy, but being a small (inside) guy he doesn't finish real well. We're trying to find out what his niche is."

Johnson, who played two years at Moorpark, Calif., College before transferring to Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock, Calif., has adapted quickly to the intricacies of the Warriors' system.

"One thing he does well is every time we put up an offensive call he's in the right spot," Larsen said. "Every time we change defense, he's the guy in the right area. He's not a vocal guy. He's not a real selfish guy. When you look at all good basketball players you have to have a little of that overconfident, selfish part of you that says, 'Hey, I want to make plays and to score.'

"He doesn't have that in his body. He's a tough kid who loves to compete, but he's not a real offensive minded kind of guy."

Johnson said he wants to do what will help his team win and sometimes that's not scoring.

"I just believe when I'm out on court with certain guys on my team, I don't need to get shots and score points," Johnson said. "I need to do little things like play 'D' and rebound, get loose balls and stuff like that, block shots."

Johnson has been looking forward to playing in a game at Lawlor Events Center for the first time, even though he spent a lot of time in the building when his father coached the Pack from 1999 to 2004.

"I'm pretty excited. I didn't get a chance to play there in high school in the tournament," Johnson said. "I'm excited even though I know only a few guys who are on the team. I've been talking to them, guys like David Ellis, Marcelus (Kemp), Lyndale (Burleson) and Armon Johnson. Coach (Mark) Fox, I have a good relationship with him."

Johnson has bounced back quickly after having the cyst removed.

"It was a huge mole or bubble right in the spina (area)," Larsen said. "The doctors were like, 'Hey, this is not good, we better take it out. They just realized it was something bacteria-wise that he caught. They don't know where he caught it. It came from outside (of his body).

"They said, 'If it comes from the inside out, it's bad. If it comes from the outside in we can take care of it.' That's what it was. It was just something he had caught down the road."

Johnson said the cyst, which he had discovered on Thanksgiving Day, had been painful.

"It's all cleared up and done now," Johnson said. "The doctor said it just happens in guys that play basketball and other sports with a lot of running in tight restricted areas."

Basketball has always been a part of his life as long as he can remember.

Growing up a coach's son never created any pressure for him, he said.

"It wasn't difficult for me at all," he said. "I just concentrated on what I was doing and didn't worry about anything else. My dad told me numerous times I could play different sports if I wanted to. I just liked basketball. I tried the other sports. Basketball, I had a love for it. My dad helped me a lot. He worked with me individually on basic stuff.

"We used to play a little bit (of one on one). He gave that up when I was about 16 or 17. He was getting old."

Even though Larsen would like Johnson to score more, the coach has no problem with how he relates to his teammates.

"He's such a great teammate," Larsen said. "We've got seven freshmen who are redshirting and he's just great with them. He's a smart kid. He can help them in study table situations. He's fun to be around. The kids all love him.

"He's just a great teammate. I knew that because I've been around him his whole life."

PROVIDED TO THE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

The File on Terry Johnson
Position: Forward
Class: Junior
Height: 6-foot-6
Weight: 205 pounds
HIGH School: Reno High