Note: The Fairfield University men's basketball will travel to Italy for a 10-day basketball tour that includes three games against national teams. To preview the trip, the program will look back on Fairfield's ties to the country throughout the week, including alums Art Kenney, Joe DeSantis, and current Head Coach Sydney Johnson.

                 Role models are so important in the life of young men especially when they are learning to navigate the winding path that life puts in front of them. Throughout his life, Sydney Johnson knew that he could always turn to his father LeRoy, a former Indiana University student-athlete, to help him stay on the right path by offering advice and counsel when he needed it most.

                 Besides stressing the importance of education, LeRoy Johnson, who holds a master's and doctorate degree, also imparted his experience as a basketball player on his son Sydney and helped guide him academically and athletically from his high school years through his graduation from Princeton University.

                "My dad actually planted the seed (of playing overseas), Johnson said. "He was a long time pro and played in Spain and France. He talked to me and my brothers about opportunities and said that there was a big world out there. He told us that there was a high level of basketball in Europe and that if we didn't make it in the NBA, we could have a nice career there."

                But simply planting a seed does not make it grow. It must be nurtured and well cared for in order for roots to take hold and growth to occur. For Johnson, that nurturing and caring came during his career as a student-athlete at Princeton University.

                "I really worked hard at Princeton," Johnson said. "The coaches stressed passing, dribbling, shooting, and defending which basically made me smarter within the game. They prepared me to be successful in whatever system I would play in so that made me attractive coming out of school."

                When he left Princeton, Johnson's play and reputation for being a smart and talented player brought opportunity his way, beginning with a chance to play in Italy. He made the most of his chance and achieved a great deal of success including a Second Division championship in his first year with Gorizia Pallacanestro. The following season, he was part of another championship team as Reggio Calabria won the league title. Alongside Johnson, Manu Ginobili, before embarking on a Hall of Fame career with the San Antonio Spurs, played his first pro season in Reggio Calabria. He moved on to play five more years in the top divisions of Italy and Spain, including a two year stint in the Spanish league with Girona Basket and an Italian championship with Siena.

                Despite the amount of preparation at Princeton, Johnson still needed to adjust to the differences between the European style of basketball and the American game. But with his college training and his strong basketball IQ, Johnson made those adjustments and excelled in that first season.

                "The shot clock really jumps out at me because I think we had a longer time in college," Johnson said. "Over there, the shot clock is set for 24 seconds so the pace is much faster. It was all good though because I liked to play at quicker pace but it was still an adjustment. The physicality in Italy was also different because you could bang and bump in the post as well as on the perimeter. I ran into a lot of foul trouble early in my first year because I would contest shots. I found out that if a guy was shooting a jump shot, you couldn't put a hand up because it was an instant foul.  But, I was fortunate because I was on a team that let me play through those adjustments and I ended up being a starting point guard on a team what won a division championship in my first year."

                Winning that championship made Johnson and the team very popular around town as fans cheered the team's accomplishments. The Italian fans had a strong impact on Johnson and which still resonates with him today.

                "The fans really want to win," Johnson said. "Their basketball fans mimic the same passion as soccer fans. They will set off flares, beat drums, hold up scarfs, and chant your name before every game. My wife can still chant the song they had for me when I played in Avellino. They had a chant for every single player on the team. It was almost like roll call. Those memories still give me chills today."

                More importantly, Johnson points out that the fans are very knowledgeable about the game and therefore show their respect toward the game, the home team, and even the opponent.

                "The fans always recognize your efforts," Johnson said. "We could play hard and win and the fans would be thrilled. We could also play hard and lose and they would be proud of how we represented the town and the fans themselves. That's something that really touched me. It's hard to win every single game even though you really want do it. But there's an effort you give at each game in order to be successful. The fans always appreciated that effort and the players always appreciated their acknowledgement."

                The relationships that Johnson forged with fans, teammates, and coaches remain intact today, giving him even more reason to look forward to Fairfield's trip to Italy next week. This trip will be the second time in Johnson's tenure that the Stags will enjoy a summer tour of Italy. And like the first trip, Johnson expects to see his former Italian teammates and coaches in attendance when Fairfield plays its exhibition games.

                "I'll be catching up with coaches and players that I played for and with when I was in Italy," Johnson said. "I am in touch with all of them still, some of whom have gone to be scouts, coaches, and general managers. The last time we were there, I saw a former coach or teammate at every one of our games and expect the same will be true this year."

                Those close ties may come in handy when his current student-athletes begin exploring the possibility of playing in Italy or in other European countries. With former Stags Rakim Sanders, Derek Needham, and Marcus Gilbert already achieving success in Italy, Johnson hopes he can continue to prepare his players for those professional opportunities.

                "I want all of our players to earn a Fairfield degree and play as many years as they can professionally," Johnson said. "We want to win every game at Fairfield and we want to go to the NCAA tournament. But along the way, I want to prepare our guys to be successful pros as well. Rakim, Derek, Marcus, and Mo (Barrow) are all doing well over there. I think Tyler is well on his way to a pro career and Jerome is going to have an opportunity to play. I had a great experience playing in Italy and Spain and want to prepare our guys to enjoy that same experience in their lives."

                It's the same wish that every role model has.