‘Let’s Go To Dinner’

How a trip to Chili’s helped lead Bryan Penn-Johnson to Washington // By Mason Kelley

By Washington Huskies

February 25^th, 2019

Sometimes life-altering decisions are made in moments created through everyday experiences.

In a booth.

At a Chili’s.

Just a few days into his sophomore year of high school, Penn-Johnson suffered a torn patellar tendon. He just was a year into a growth process that would see him shoot up from 6-foot-6 to 7-foot-1, but after the injury, he was stuck in bed.

Then he got a call from his brother, Brent.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m just in bed,” Penn-Johnson replied.

Brent knew his younger brother needed to get out of the house.

“Let’s go to dinner,” he said.

They went to Chili’s and settled into a booth.

“I was on crutches, so we had to get one to let my leg stretch out,” Penn-Johnson said.

They ate. They talked. They made decisions.

“We just started talking,” he said. “We sat down and planned out what my life could be if I kept doing what I was doing. That’s when it clicked … in a booth at Chili’s.”

In that moment. At that dinner, Penn-Johnson knew he wanted to build his future around basketball. And now here he is, a four-star recruit who is a pivotal part of what Washington is building.

Penn-Johnson didn’t grow up playing basketball. He was a football standout – a left tackle to be exact. But then his body started to change. All of a sudden, his size made him better suited for a different sport.

So he traded his pads and helmet for a basketball.

“I started getting tall, so I couldn’t keep hitting as hard as I used to,” he said.

He started playing basketball as a freshman in high school. It didn’t take long for him to get up to speed.

“It always came kind of easy for me, but it was the interest level,” he said. “I just had to make sure I remained interested in it, because for me, I didn’t want it to be a job.”

The more he played, the more he began to realize he had a future in the game, but he wanted to make sure he was completely invested.

Then he suffered the injury.

As he worked his way back, he told himself, “I’m not as athletic as I could be. I’m not moving as fast as I was.”

After his talk with Brent, he used his recovery as motivation. He invested himself in a way that made college coaches take notice. The more he played, the harder he worked. He fell in love.

“Now it’s all I think about a majority of the time,” he said.

Once Washington offered him a scholarship, Penn-Johnson said he appreciated the personal connection he formed with the coaching staff. He knew assistant coach Dave Rice before he joined the Huskies’ staff and that relationship helped the center make his choice.

“I’ve known him for a long time,” Penn-Johnson said. “He was my first college offer. I just had a really good connection with him.”

So here he is, a freshman with plenty of potential making sure he gets the most out of each opportunity he receives on and off the floor this season.

“Things are pretty good,” he said. “The team is good. The school is great. Living conditions are great. I’m enjoying myself.”

When Penn-Johnson was in that booth at Chili’s with his brother, they charted a course. They established a road map that would put him on a path toward his ultimate goal: The NBA.

“Ever since then I’ve been working toward that one goal,” he said. “It feels good because, as far as going along on that path, I’m probably like a mile away, less than a mile away from the goal I set, so just a couple more steps and I’ll be there.”

But, while he does have a long-term plan, his current goal is to make the most of his opportunity at Washington. Each practice provides the chance to improve, particularly with the daily matchups he faces from the other big men on the roster.

The Huskies have six players – including Penn-Johnson – on their roster who are 6-foot-8 or taller. And, with each of the big men bringing a separate set of skills, there is always something new for Penn-Johnson to learn.

“Especially going against Noah (Dickerson), because he’s one of the best players in the Pac-12, if not the best-scoring big in the Pac-12,” he said. “Going up against him every day is making me a lot better on defense.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”

When asked to rate his development on a 10-point scale, the freshman said he was a one as a freshman in high school. Now as a freshman at the next level, Penn-Johnson puts himself at about a “five or six.”

To grow that much in just a few years bodes well for the big man’s future, but what will set him apart is his willingness to continue developing his skill set.

Penn-Johnson wasn’t expecting to chart out his future when he went to that dinner with his brother. But that trip to Chili’s started the journey that led him to Washington.