John Salmons hasn’t changed regimen since 9th grade

WHITEMARSH — John Salmons returned to his alma mater, Plymouth Whitemarsh, on Friday afternoon to be added to the wall of distinguished graduates for his successful career in the NBA. However, what few people know is that John Salmons never really left.

“Right around this time of year you’ll get a text and you’ll hear John is coming up tomorrow,” said PW head coach Jim Donofrio. “He’s right back in the gym … right up at Colonial Elementary school all summer long and we’re all proud of that and we let him go, we let him do his thing.

“Everyone, the custodians, Superintendant, they see him, give a wave and just let him go.”

In the off-season, Salmons is a regular at Colonial Elementary School where he goes about his regimen in preparation for the next season. Soon to be in his twelfth year of service, Salmons started 72 of 82 games for the Sacramento Kings last season.

“Since as long as I remember, all I wanted to do was make it to the NBA,” Salmons said. “I spent a lot of hours in the gym working on my game.”

In his eleven years in the NBA, Salmons has played for four different franchises — the Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks. Including his college career at the U — University of Miami — Salmons has lived in cities in all corners of the nation.

“When I got drafted by the Sixers, right away I wanted to come back to Plymouth Meeting to live just because of all the support I got here in my four years of high school,” Salmons said.

After his rookie season, Donofrio recalls a request from Salmons to open up the doors to the Colonial Elementary gym to work out. Donofrio let him in and left to run some errands. Three hours later, Donofrio said, he returned to the gym to find Salmons sitting on the sideline breathing heavily. Salmons had been running a series of sprints with interludes of stationary dribbling drills.

“Players only do those if they get on our nerves and they need to be disciplined,” Donofrio said. “To voluntarily do them means either you’re a glutton for punishment, or you have a serious desire to excel.”

As Gordon Glantz wrote in early 1998 in recap of the previous season’s championship run, the coaching had come full circle. He didn’t know at the time how right he was.

The 1996-97 Colonials were coached by Al Angelos, who was mentored by Hank Stofka whose ‘Kardiac Kids’ won the 1963 title. However, in 2010, PW captured its third state title under coach Jim Donofrio, who was an assistant coach to Angelos during the championship run a decade earlier.

Donofrio said after their championship season, he had ten or more players that were in college, seven of which were playing ball on scholarship money. Salmons, remains the shining success of his players in the game of basketball.

“We put so much emphasis in sports on the winning and the losing,” Donofrio said. “If you do things right, you’ll have a relationship with these guys for a long time.”

Salmons was neither the biggest nor the tallest nor the strongest nor the best player when he came to Donofrio to play on the JV team.

“I said, ‘let me see your left-handed layup,’ and it wasn’t that strong,” Donofrio said. “I said it jokingly, but I said, ‘you have a week before tryouts, if you get a left-handed layup in a week, I’ll let you tryout for JV.’ He came back with a perfect left-handed layup two days later.”

Salmons was a player that was mostly overlooked in the league and even on his own team. Friend and teammate, Chuck Moore, who played point guard for the Colonials and went on to play at Seton Hall, was the standout player on the team.

“He and Chuck Moore would look at the ranks, and a lot of people would say not to do that, but they’d look and say ‘you got to be kidding me, how am I not better than that guy?’” Donofrio said. “They had these high standards and they used it as a competition.”

A moment that will stand out in the memory of PW fans and players forever is the ‘Miracle at Conestoga Valley.’ Down one point with 3.9 seconds remaining in the state quarterfinals against Chambersburg on March 13, 1997, the Colonials did the unthinkable. With Chuck Moore fouled out and sitting on the bench, Coach Angelos sent out football player Kevin Gall to inbounds the ball. On the full-court inbounds, Gall sent the ball flying down court, and on one bounce Billy Guess jumped over the boundary line and with one hand slung it to an open Salmons who took two dribbles in the lane and hit a jumper to win the game 60-59. PW went on to win the state championship eight days later.

“His personality makes him a pro, because if he wanted to be a superstar he knows he’s not that guy, but every team needs the guy that makes the pass that needs to be made,” Donofrio said. “You don’t need to be Dwyane Wade, you just need to be able to be a piece that when you do get the ball to Dwyane Wade he makes an easy play.

“He’s found his niche with that.”

Donofrio attributes Salmons’ success mostly to his personality and work ethic. Despite the fact that Salmons can cover Dirk Nowitzki, then plays the point the next play, and that he can play the power forward or the wing, or defend — a “Swiss Army knife in your pocket” Donofrio said — it’s his approach to the game that has given him a brilliant career.

“Hard work is just a part of life, whatever you do you have to work hard at it,” Salmons said. “Playing basketball is something that I’ve always loved, so going hard came easy to me.”

“This is one of those moments that’s a payback when you hope you made that right approach,” Donofrio said. “To see John, that’s the pinnacle.”


(timesherald.com)