Cancer took Coach J's life, but his legacy will live on

It was a tough question for anyone, but 18-year-old Catlin Chivers had no idea how to answer the question her basketball coach posed one day after school.

"We were talking about his cancer and he asked me, 'Catlin, if you had one more day to live, what would you do?'" said the 19-year-old Uintah High graduate. "I thought about it and said, 'I don't know, coach. What about you?' He said, 'I wouldn't do anything different.' "

Chivers wasn't really surprised by Shannon Johnson's answer. She'd watched her teacher, her coach deal with his diagnosis of melanoma for more than a year at that point.

"I don't think it changed him that much," said Chivers, who played for four years for Johnson and graduated in 2008. "I know he had a fulfilling life. It didn't take a bunch of things to make him happy — his family, his beliefs in the gospel and us."

The "us" is the Uintah High girls basketball team.

Chivers and other former players have a long list of lessons they learned from the man known as Coach J, who died June 29 after a nearly three-year battle with cancer. Just 44 years old, he was buried this weekend and honored, most clearly, for his contributions to the lives of young people.

"He taught us a lot of little lessons," said Chivers. "Probably one is that family is the most important. During the season, some girls would have family things come up, and he would always tell us that's really important."

Johnson married Tara Gale after meeting her at Utah State University. They had three children, Jessica, Jade and Brant, and a trust fund has been established in Shannon Johnson's name at Mountain America Credit Union for the family. And while he started out working in computers, his best friend, Dave Law, who played basketball with him at Emery High, said he just wasn't happy working in that field.

Tara was a Vernal native and on a trip home, they heard about an opening at Uintah High. Coach J jumped at the chance, and very quickly began making his mark.

It was evident to everyone — he loved coaching. Some people coach because they love the game; some because it helps pay the bills; others maybe because they once played and it keeps them connected to the game they loved. And then there are the Shannon Johnsons of the world.

For Coach J, the time spent on the hardwood — and in the classroom — was all about his players.

"He loved all the girls that he coached," said Chivers. "He cared about their future outside of basketball."

Nicole Brady, who graduated in 2007 and went on to play at SLCC and recently signed with Boise State, said he actually helped her keep her passion for hoops in perspective.