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Spencer Johnson made his mark as one of the greatest players in West Virginia Conference history during four stellar seasons (1981-84) on the hilltop. West Liberty's first 2,000-point scorer, Johnson turned the Hilltopper record book into his personal scrapbook before heading off to Europe and a professional basketball career.
Incredibly durable, Johnson never missed a game at West Liberty. When the three-time All-WVIAC selection and NAIA All-American was named to the WVIAC's All-Freshman Team following his debut season, it seemed to unleash a flood of conference and national honors. Johnson scored his 1,000th career point early in his junior season and went on to earn first-team All-WVIAC laurels before vaulting into the national spotlight as a senior.
Johnson led the league in scoring with a school-record 697 points, an average of better than 24 points a game, to finish with a school-record 2,137 points. He was the leading scorer in the 1984 WVIAC Tournament, a first-team All-WVIAC selection and an NAIA All-American. Many of his records remain on the Hilltopper books decades after his departure.
After graduation, Johnson headed overseas to begin his professional career. While playing in Austria, he was averaging an eye-popping 38 points a game when he suffered a severe ankle injury that brought a premature end to his career. Johnson returned to the United States and went into the construction business, eventually founding his own contracting company.
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