HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — When Chaney Johnson was nine years old and starting his basketball journey, he never thought that he’d get to the point in his career where he’d be taking the court in an SEC program.

After years of hard work and dedication, Johnson made his way from Thompson High School to UAH and now the GSC player of the year is taking his talents to the Auburn Tigers’ program and he’s ready to get to work in the SEC.

So what drew Johnson to the Auburn program and what is taking to AU from his years with the Chargers?

“The culture was crazy like the guys were cool and it felt like UAH,” Johnson said. “It honestly felt like UAH like this is home and there’s no point in me going to other places to visit when I’m set on Auburn. Playing under a guy like Coach Shulman he wants perfection out of his players, so being able to play under a coach like him and being able to play with guys that love the game, love each other and love to win that’s a big thing I learned from UAH is just how to win.”

UAH head coach John Shulman has coached at the D1 level, so what advice does he have for Johnson as he makes the jump?

“He’s just going to have to bring it every single day and he’s just gonna have to outwork people,” Shulman said. “He’s just going to have to be ready to go every day and I think he will be; he was here so why would he change?”

As far as the kind of young man that Bruce Pearl is getting, both on and off the court, Shulman has nothing but high praise.

“I just told Coach Pearl very simple that he would be their hardest worker and I didn’t say their best player I said their hardest worker,” Shulman said. “Whatever you tell Chaney to do, he’ll do it and he will be their hardest worker. He is a wonderful kid. That’s what Coach Pearl has won with through the years. His best teams at Tennessee were those guys who had a chip on their shoulder who wanted to show everybody what they could do and same thing at Auburn and I think that’s what he’s getting from Chaney. Chaney’s got a lot of doubters and I think he’s got a lot to prove.”